


Melody Of The Soul

by TheApatheticKat



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Soul Eater
Genre: F/F, Soul Eater AU, Trans!Rin, Unlikely Crossover, Warnings: Mild language and SE-canon-typical violence in later chapters, Yukiho and Alisa are mostly mentioned but each get one actual appearance in the prologue chapters, another warning: MAJOR spoilers for the Soul Eater anime, the kotohono's pretty slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-09-19 09:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 69,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9432977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheApatheticKat/pseuds/TheApatheticKat
Summary: It all started with a relay race. A trip to the playground. Spiritual intuition. And cloaked acts of kindness. Two years later, nine hearts and souls would begin to connect, pushing forward together through their aspirations to advance and a sudden series of perilous strikes. Crossposted to FanFiction.net





	1. Prologue 1: Honoka Kousaka

Honoka Kousaka, middle school second-year, Class 4.

    The finish line for the relay race lay ahead in her sights, but she could not run to it. The race had only just begun, and Honoka was the red team's third leg. She waited, but had to be ready at a moment's notice for when she got the baton.  _ Any minute now, _ Honoka thought, glancing over her shoulder, looking to the horizon and Kotori Minami, one of her two best friends and the team's anchor.

    "This is so frustrating," Honoka muttered to herself. She thought the relay race was going to be huge, the main event, a race packed with nonstop action where you can't lose focus for even a moment. But it was just waiting.

 

_ "I actually think it would be a great idea for Honoka to be in the relay," _ she remembered Umi say.  _ "For her, it's all or nothing. That and her energy are sure to get us our victory. Kotori, let's hope she gets you a good head start." _

 

    Honoka had to set her heart on winning, but since the red team was already far ahead, and a victory for the white team here wouldn't change that, this race wasn't going to be anywhere near as much of a spectacle as she was making it out to be. The baton was passed to the second runner.  _ If only Umi-chan was actually in the relay, _ Honoka thought, still in a readied position.  _ Umi-chan is so cool, and I bet she's fast. Too bad the archery event's right after, and she's supposed to be doing that. Well, I guess that makes sense, with Umi-chan being in the archery club and all. _

    "Kousaka-san!" Honoka heard a voice call out. Wow, that was fast. All right, now to get the red team to a further victory. 

    Honoka dashed off, a blood red baton in hand.  _ Must...get...baton...to...Kotori-chan! _ She could feel her heart and footsteps pounding at the track as she began to break a sweat. She was becoming neck and neck with the white team's runner, and kept going with a strong desire to pull ahead. Honoka could see Kotori holding out her hand, and with a quick pass of the batons, the anchors were off. 

    "Kotori-chan, you can do it!" Honoka shouted, before bringing her hands down to her kneecaps. She took a few deep breaths and wiped the sweat from her brow.  _ Come on, Kotori-chan... _

    Kotori dashed across the finish line, but whatever material it was made out of didn't break, and she fell towards the ground. Honoka could see a flash from Kotori's right arm as it stuck into the ground, catching her.  _ Hang on, catching? _ Umi dropped her end of the line, and Honoka dashed down the final leg to see what happened. She didn't think she'd have to run two legs, but this was important. She could have sworn something strange happened back there, and she desperately wanted to see if Kotori was okay.

 

    "Kotori-chan, Umi-chan!" Honoka called out as she approached.

    "Pretty much everything's fine, Honoka-chan," Kotori replied. "Since both me and my baton made it over the line first, we won! But my arm..." she said, holding up her right arm. From the elbow onwards, it had transformed into a glowing silver arrow. Honoka screamed, not in horror, but in excitement. She knew exactly what this meant. Kotori Minami had partially transformed into a Demon Weapon, and from the looks of it, if she fully transformed she would be a bow.

    "Kotori, do you know how to get your arm back to normal?" Umi asked. She seemed to be far more nervous about this than Kotori was.

    "No, this has never happened before," Kotori replied. "But I'm not worried. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to control it..." she began, looking at her arrow arm and focusing really hard. It didn't change back. Honoka and Umi gasped.

    "Honoka-chan, what do I do?" Kotori asked. Honoka knew Kotori would turn to her for something like this. The Kousaka family had been purely archery weapons for many years, the gene never skipping a generation. But neither Honoka or her younger sister Yukiho had  transformed yet, though Honoka was just getting to that age where it could happen any day now, and Yukiho would likely follow in the next two or three years.

    "Well, Mom's first accidental transformation went away on its own, but Dad's stayed like that until he went to DWMA and learned to control it there," Honoka replied. "He had a bow string coming out of his arm for a whole month."

    "A month?" Kotori and Umi asked.

    "That's what he told me," Honoka replied. The school nurse then ran over to the three girls.

    "Minami-san, come with me," she said, helping Kotori up. "I'm going to have to call your mother about this."

    Honoka and Umi watched the nurse lead Kotori off until the two were out of their sight. Umi looked at Honoka with worried eyes, clashing with Honoka's unbridled enthusiasm. Honoka gave Umi a quizzical look.  _ How could Umi-chan not be excited that Kotori-chan's a weapon? _

    "I know Kotori's mother, she's definitely going to send Kotori off to DWMA to learn how to control her power and transformations so she can't accidentally hurt someone with them," Umi said. The realization hit Honoka like an arrow to the heart.

    "Kotori-chan'll be going to DWMA...  but isn't that all the way in America?" Honoka asked. "Then the three of us will be split up! I thought we'd all be best friends together forever, but with Kotori-chan gone... ahh, I don't even want to think about Kotori-chan being gone."

    Umi said nothing, but Honoka could tell by the look in her eyes and her quivering lower lip that she was upset about that possibility too.

    "The archery event begins in five minutes," one of the teachers announced off in the distance. "I repeat, the archery event begins in five minutes,"

    "Ah, I have to go get ready!" Umi exclaimed. "Honoka, don't fret about Kotori right now, we have a victory to keep in our hands."

 

    By the time it was Umi's turn to fire her arrows, Kotori had returned from the nurse's station, her arm back to normal. Honoka sighed with relief. Thank goodness Kotori-chan's okay. Umi drew her bow, and her first arrow hit the bullseye dead center. Her second arrow split the first. Her third arrow split the second. 

    "And the winner is Umi Sonoda of the Red Team!" a teacher announced. "Three completely perfect shots!" Honoka and Kotori gasped, Kotori especially having a certain glint in her eyes. Honoka grabbed Kotori's arm and pointed to the target.

    "Kotori-chan! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Honoka squealed.

    "I know! I saw!" Kotori said, a huge grin on her face.

 

    The red team was able to hold their victory through the rest of the sports festival, thanks in part to Umi's perfect archery. But on the ride home, Honoka's happiness began to fade. She was so glad that her team won, but the thought of Kotori leaving was just too much for her. Umi's mother dropped Honoka off at home, and Honoka said goodbye to Umi. Honoka immediately walked back up to her bedroom and flopped down on her bed, letting out a wail of anguish.

    "Come on, Honoka, transform," she said, tensing up her arm muscles.

    "What's wrong, sis?"  Yukiho asked, opening Honoka's door. Honoka told her everything.

    "I'm hoping I can force myself to transform so Kotori-chan and I can go together, and we won't... wait," Honoka said.

    "Wait?"  Yukiho asked.

    "Shoot, if Kotori-chan and I both go, Umi-chan'll be left alone! What do I do?" Honoka asked in return.

    "I don't know," Yukiho replied. "You may just have to choose which of your friends you'll have to leave behind. If the gene did skip a generation with you, then Minami-san is the one you'll be leaving behind, while if you do transform, it'll be Sonoda-san you'll have to leave. You have a tough decision ahead of you, sis."

    "I know," Honoka said, frowning. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had known Kotori for longer, but she loved Umi just as much. The two of them were her most precious friends, and Honoka could see no way out. She and Yukiho kept talking about it until dinner was done, and the two went down to eat and Honoka told her parents everything about what happened at the sports festival.

 

    Kotori and Umi came over the following day so the three could study together, but Kotori's transformation was still a pressing subject that Honoka wanted to push at any opportunity.

    "I understand why you're so pushy, Honoka-chan, Umi-chan and I talked about it a little last night, too," Kotori said.

    "Kotori really wanted me to be her meister if she ended up a bow," Umi added. Honoka's eyes widened in surprise.  _ Well, I guess that mean's I'm the one getting left behind after all. Is this what they call irony? A cruel twist of fate? God, I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you think I deserved this. _

    "Eh?" Honoka asked, feeling a twitch in her arm.

    "Umi-chan's the best archer I know, and I know I'd be much more secure fighting evil if I had a friend I knew and trusted by my side," Kotori replied.

    "Kotori, there is a non-combatant course you have to be in until you can get your powers fully sorted out and under control," Umi said. "We will not be fighting anytime soon if that makes you feel better about it."

    "Thank goodness," Kotori sighed.

    "But we have to get you to fully transform so I know for sure what kind of bow you are," Umi said. "Your arm turned into an arrow, which is rather vague. You could be any type of bow, such as..." Umi started listing what felt like every type of bow that ever existed. Honoka admittedly tuned out here. Especially since her arm felt weird. She scratched underneath it, expecting it to just be an itch.

    "What about a crossbow?" Honoka asked.

    "That is a possibility," Kotori replied.

    "A possibility I have no idea how to wield," Umi sighed. Kotori tried to transform, but she didn't go all the way. Her right arm partially transformed the exact way as it did at the relay race, and her left arm did the same. Part of her hair turned into what looked like a backpack strap. Which was not a piece from a bow by any means.

    "Kotori-chan, your hair loop!" Honoka exclaimed, getting up to touch it. "It's become some sort of strap!"

    "A strap?" Kotori asked in surprise.

    "A strap?" Umi asked in a more quizzical tone. "What kind of weapon involves a strap and arrows... Kotori?"

    "Yes?"

    "Seems like you're a quiver," Umi said. "Which means I can either take my own bow with us or..." Umi never finished that sentence, her eyes trailing down to Honoka's arm. There was a string coming out from her wrist she seemed to be unaware of, and it ended at her armpit. And it was not only much thicker than a loose thread from her shirt sleeve could be, but a different color than it as well. Honoka noticed how Umi seemed to be looking at her upon noticing this.

    "Umi-chan, what is it?" Honoka asked.

    "Your arm..." Umi replied. Honoka looked down to the string. "...it almost looks like a bow string came out of it while we were all talking."

    "What? Really?" Honoka asked, letting go of Kotori's hair strap and tugging the string on her arm. "Ow," she said, letting go of the string. "This hurts, so it's definitely part of my body, which means..." Honoka gasped in excitement. "...I've partially transformed too! I'm a weapon! A bow! Umi-chan, you can wield me and Kotori at the same time, it's the perfect setup! Yay, nobody's gonna be leaving anyone, I have to go tell Mom and Dad!" Honoka exclaimed, dashing out down the stairs. "MOM! DAD!" she called out.

    "Kotori, the three of us are going to have to focus a lot more on English during our study sessions from now on," Umi said.

    "Mhm," Kotori replied. "But, going to DWMA together's going to be really fun."

 

    "Wait, Kotori, didn't Honoka say her dad's first partial transformation caused him to have a string in his arm for a month?"

    "Oh dear, poor Honoka-chan..."


	2. Prologue 2: Rin Hoshizora

 

    Rin Hoshizora, middle school first year, Class 2. 

 

    It was a calm, partly cloudy evening as she began her walk home from school with Hanayo. The sun was just beginning to set as they left class together, Rin leading the way with Hanayo's hand in hers. They made their way outside and began to go off down the sidewalk. Hanayo's house was closer to their school, so they'd be stopping by there first.

    "It sure is a nice day, Rin-chan," Hanayo said, looking up at the sky as they passed a park.

    "Yeah, it really is... OH MY GOSH IS THAT A PLAYGROUND?" Rin exclaimed, pointing to a playground off in the distance. It must have only been completed recently, since Rin had never seen it before. She knew that being in middle school, she was supposed to be too old to play on those sort of things, but she's only been there a few months, so it wouldn't hurt, right?

    "It is, and it looks new!" Hanayo replied. "Rin-chan, it doesn't look like there are any other kids on it, so do you think that maybe for a few minutes we could...  never mind, I can tell just by the look on your face that you want to."

    "Let's go, nya!" Rin said, running off to the playground.

    "Wait a minute, watch for cars!" Hanayo called out back to her as she followed. Thankfully, they both made it across the street without getting hit. A car passed by right as Hanayo got to the sidewalk. She sighed with relief. "That was a close one."

    "Are you okay, Kayo-chin?" Rin asked.

    "Yeah, I'm fine," Hanayo replied, walking off to one of the swings and beginning to swing. Rin got on the swing next to her and started swinging higher. She liked the feeling of the wind on her face from being this high up, and involuntarily struck a huge grin. Rin looked at the mulch in front of her, and decided to jump right at the peak of her next swing. Hanayo made a shrill "eep" in surprise as Rin soared out of the swing. Rin landed on her feet, bending her knees to absorb the shock. She still felt it in her legs, especially in her ankles, and winced a bit.

    "I stuck the landing, nya," Rin said, looking a bit surprised. She dusted off the seat of her pants. "I'm gonna go to the main part," she said, walking over to the main structure of the playground. It was multi-leveled, with several different climbing options and slides. One end even had monkey bars attached. Rin wanted to climb all the way to the top and ride the big curly slide. She climbed her way up through several tubes, tunnels, and nets. Once she got to the top, she looked out across the horizon. She could see her school from here. And looking down in another direction, she saw Hanayo slowing down from the swing and getting off carefully as to not get her skirt snagged.

    "Wait, Rin-chan, I want to go on the slide with you!" she cried out, going up to the top level by way of a large, oddly-shaped ladder-like piece. She got behind Rin and wrapped her legs around her, setting them in her lap. She also wrapped her arms around Rin's shoulders.

    "Okay, we go on three, nya," Rin said. "One..."

    "Two..." Hanayo added.

    "Three!" they both shouted, pushing themselves down the slide. It was surprisingly fast, and they were at the bottom in no time.

    "That was fun," Rin said.

    "It's getting pretty dark," Hanayo pointed out, looking at the sky. "We shouldn't play for much longer or my parents are going to get worried."

    "Can't we just play on the monkey bars for a minute, nya?" Rin asked, getting up from the slide.

    "Just a minute might still be fine," Hanayo replied, following her over. Rin leaped up and grasped the bar on the edge, pulling herself up and climbing up to sit on the bar. She hung on tightly with her knees and hung upside down for a few seconds.  _ Being able to do this without flashing anyone is probably the only perk of this stupid uniform, _ she thought.

    "I just realized something, I've never been able to make it across one of those all at once," Hanayo said.

    "Then try it, Kayo-chin!" Rin exclaimed, getting herself down. "We'll only be kids once, nya."

    A determined look spread across Hanayo's face, and she climbed up a mock rock climbing wall to get to the monkey bars.

    "I'm gonna do it," she said, grasping the first bar with both hands.

    "You can do it, Kayo-chin!" Rin said. "Just don't hesitate, it's important to keep your momentum going, nya," she added. Hanayo took a deep breath and grabbed the next bar with her right hand.  _ Come on, Kayo-chin, you can do it. _ Hanayo pushed herself off the platform, and reached for the third bar with her left hand. Being at the height that she was, her feet nearly touched the ground, so she at least would have the knowledge she wouldn't get hurt. Her feet dangled just enough, but her torso and legs swung out suddenly, and her hands reflexively remained on the bars the currently were.  _ Kayo-chin stopped moving. She's done for. _

    "I  _ can _ do this," Hanayo said to herself,  trying to grab the next bar. But just as Rin warned her, her momentum broke, and she slipped. Rin closed her eyes and winced. Even though the drop wasn't much, she still didn't want to see Hanayo fall. Rin felt a bright flash on her eyelids, and heard the sound of chains jingling.  _ Wait, chains? _ There weren't any chains on this side of the playground structure. She heard Hanayo scream, and opened her eyes immediately. Rin could not believe what she just saw. Hanayo's forearm was gone, and in its place a bluntly spiked ball on a chain. The ball and chain had caught the monkey bar, preventing Hanayo from falling a few centimeters to what would most likely be a safe landing on her feet.

    "This is an emergency!" Hanayo shrieked. "What happened to me?"

    "I don't know," Rin replied, taking a picture with her phone. The flash blinded Hanayo for a second. She flinched, slipping off the monkey bars. The strange ball and chain flung down at her side, barely missing her leg. "Kayo-chin!" Rin called out. Hanayo slowly grasped the spiked ball in her other hand, careful not to touch the spikes.

    "This... this can't be my hand," Hanayo said, trying to pull the ball off. "Ow!" she exclaimed.

    "I've heard of stuff like this happening to people before, but I've never seen it with my own eyes, nya," Rin said. "Kayo-chin, what do we do?" she asked, sending the picture she took earlier to Hanayo's parents.

    "I don't know, Rin-chan!" Hanayo replied. It was fully dark out by now, the only light coming from Rin's phone. "Call my mom or the hospital!"

 

    Hanayo's arm had returned to normal before she and Rin returned to her house, but her mother saw the picture and explained to the girls what exactly had happened to Hanayo and what it meant. Rin was anxious at the thought of Hanayo leaving to someplace so far away, so once she returned home, she looked it up to see if there was any possible way she could go with her. Hanayo was Rin's closest friend, one of her only friends. Someone who supported Rin through and through. Rin loved Hanayo and wanted to support her through this in return. Hanayo deserved it for all she's done for Rin over the years. And Rin was definitely sure of that.

    "If Kayo-chin's a Demon Weapon and going to DWMA, I could apply as her meister, nya," Rin said to herself as she read the school's website. "I'm definitely athletic enough to keep up with the fitness standards, and I just know Kayo-chin would be really happy to have me as her partner. The only problem is where we're gonna live, nya." Rin scrolled through more of DWMA's website to see if they had dormitories.  _ Same-gender meister/weapon pairs and unpartnered students may reside in the school dorms, though opposite-gender pairs must have an apartment somewhere in Death City together. _ Rin frowned as she read this, looking over at the boy's uniform on a hanger in her closet next to all the skirts and dresses she wore at home.

    "What am I gonna do, nya?" Rin asked, looking around the website for any policy that could make it so she and Hanayo could share a dorm. "Even with the school's weekly allowance program, I can't afford an apartment, and neither can Kayo-chin, not even if we pool our money." She found a link labeled "anti-discrimination policies".  _ Perfect, _ she thought, clicking on it. "DWMA will not tolerate any discrimination against its students on basis of race, sex, religion, income level, sexuality, and/or gender identity under any circumstances."  _ Oh, thank goodness. _ Rin sighed with relief.  _ We'll be able to stay in the girls' dorm together after all. _

 

    The next day after school, Rin invited Hanayo over to her house to show her the stuff she had put together in order to train to be Hanayo's meister. Hanayo was initially flattered by this, as well as overjoyed that Rin wanted to come with her as her partner.

    "Rin-chan, I'm so glad you'll be coming with me, I really don't want to be alone in a foreign country and a new school... but is all of this necessary?" Hanayo asked.

    "I didn't know what type of weapon you'd be at first, so I made several practice mockups," Rin replied, pointing to what looked like a pile of junk and pulling out a replica of what she thought Hanayo's weapon form would most likely turn out to be, a morningstar. Made out of a mini beach ball taped to a chain of paper clips, attached to a paper towel roll.

    "I think I'd definitely weigh more than that," Hanayo sighed.

    "Kayo-chin, I'm just messing around for now," Rin said, swinging her hastily-made contraption around. The paper clip chain whipped around and the beach ball hit Rin square in the face. "If that were a real morningstar, that swing would've killed me, nya!"

    All the color had drained from Hanayo's face, and her eyes were horribly struck with concern. Rin found out it was horribly clear that Hanayo did not find that joke funny at all.

    "It's all right, Kayo-chin, I'm totally fine," Rin said to reassure her. "It only swung like that because of the weight, honest. I promise I'll wield you more carefully than I wield that thing."

    Hanayo took a few deep breaths and Rin's hands in her own.

    "I know, Rin-chan," Hanayo said. "But please, please be careful. You're my best friend in the whole entire world, I don't want to end up accidentally being your murder weapon."

    "You won't, Kayo-chin," Rin replied, squeezing on to Hanayo's hands. "I definitely believe that, no, I promise it. I'll be careful, nya."

    Hanayo's expression softened a bit, but she still looked worried.

    "Kayo-chin, I definitely want to wield you," Rin said. "I definitely want to help you with this whole weapon thing. And I definitely don't want either of us to hurt ourselves doing it," she added, thinking back to Hanayo's partially transformed arm nearly grazing her leg. The soft and sweet Hanayo had potential to be a dangerous and risky weapon. One Rin had no idea how to wield. But she would try. Try her hardest. She would definitely, absolutely try nothing but her hardest.

    "I know you're gonna try to be careful, Rin-chan," Hanayo said. "But I still can't help but worry." Rin frowned a bit. Of course Kayo-chin's gonna be such a worrywart. I can do this. "I care about you a lot, Rin-chan." Hanayo said, hugging Rin. Rin seemed stunned for a second, before hugging her back.

    "Same here," Rin replied. "That's why I want to do all this for you."

    "Thank you, Rin-chan," Hanayo said. "I know I'm nervous, but I truly am looking forward to this."

 

    Rin smiled. She knew she and Hanayo would be wonderful partners together. This was going to be a journey unlike any other.


	3. Prologue 3: Eli Ayase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All dialogue meant to be in Japanese from this chapter onwards will be denoted in brackets, [like this]. Assume the girls' thoughts are also in Japanese, though they will be left unbracketed for formatting's sake

Eli Ayase, middle school third year, Class 1.

 

    She sat at home, looking at her options for high school. Otonokizaka, her grandmother's (on the Russian side of her family) alma mater, stuck out, but so did another school. Her other grandmother, the one on the Japanese side of her family's alma mater. DWMA. She was a meister, top of her class. Eli had considered going here, even though it was a long shot. After all, she couldn't even get being a ballet dancer right. Why do something like this?

    "[Maybe I should just go to Otonokizaka,]" Eli said to herself. After all, she could only strive to be a normal girl, at a normal high school. But still, having a talent and a skill was what she really wanted. There's no way she was good enough to do this, besides, her parents wouldn't approve of sending her abroad alone for something that wasn't about family. Eli's train of thought was interrupted by a sudden knock at her door.

    "[Sis?]" her younger sister Alisa asked. "[Mom told me to tell you she's not against you going to DWMA. In fact, she said you could start this spring if you want.]"

    Eli gasped. 

    "[Really, Alisa?]" she asked. "[That's wonderful news!]"

 

    Eli ended up choosing DWMA, and after a long flight with her mother to Death City, she knew she wasn't going to regret this decision. The first thing Eli noticed was how hot and dry it was. Desert climate was definitely something she had to get used to. She was already wiping sweat from her brow and it was barely spring. And the sun's laughter felt even louder over here, like it was mocking her.

    "[Eli, is that the school up there?]" her mother asked, pointing to a large building atop an even larger flight of stairs. There were enormous skull motifs in the construction, and what looked like gigantic lit candles sticking out of the sides of the building. It wasn't like any school she could've gone to back in Tokyo, that was for sure. 

    "[How on Earth are you going to get up those stairs every day?]"

    "[Mom, I'll be fine,]" Eli replied. She looked at the sheer size of the stairs again. "[I'll be fine,]" she repeated to herself.  _ Those stairs are meant for strengthening my and my fellow students' legs.  _ Eli pinned her "MEISTER" pin to her shirt.  _ And if I'm going to be a meister, I have to be stronger. _

    "[Should we see the dorms, Eli?]" her mother asked.

    "[Of course,]" Eli replied. "[I have to put my stuff somewhere,]" she joked. 

 

    Eli and her mother walked over to the girls' dormitory, a very fancy-looking building that wasn't anywhere near as odd-looking as the school. There was a brunette woman at the door, hanging up a banner to welcome the new students.

    "Oh, looks like I have the first student of the day already," she said, turning around to face the two Ayases. "My name is Miss Misery. I'm the dorm's superintendent." Eli took a deep breath.

    "My name is Eli Ayase," she said, hoping this conversation could keep to basic phrases for now. She pointed to her pin to show it to Miss Misery. "I am a meister."

    "Well, Miss Ayase, how about I show you to your room?" Miss Misery asked. "You look like you had a very long flight."

    "Oh, thank you!" Eli replied.

    Miss Misery led Eli and her mother down the halls to an empty two-person room with green wallpaper and cozy-looking beds. There were no signs of another person residing in this room.  _ Am I getting a roommate? If so, is she another incoming student? _

    "Since you arrived first, you can pick whichever side of the room you want," Miss Misery said.

    "Miss Misery?" Eli's mother asked. "I have some questions about the school and dorms."

    "Your questions are always welcome," Miss Misery replied. "Eli, I'll let you get yourself settled in while I talk to your mother. I hope you have a savage but super fun life here at DWMA!"

_ Savage? _ Eli thought, taken aback by that portion of the remark.  _ Well, I guess that's just how things will be at DWMA. _ Eli took the bed on the left side, closer to the door, and began unpacking her luggage. Her mother insisted Eli had to bring every article of clothing she had or else she'd give whatever Eli didn't take to Alisa, so unpacking was a serious chore. Eli made sure to bring everything that fit and had any sort of attachment to. It's not that she didn't want Alisa to have some new clothes, it's that she'd rather have Alisa have some new clothes. As in ones that didn't come from her big sister's closet.

    "[Will all this even fit in my drawers?]" Eli asked herself, almost regretting bringing nearly her entire wardrobe. Despite the expectation for students to basically be living here, the dorm rooms didn't have very much storage space.  _ Maybe I could keep my underwear, the heavier winter stuff, and my socks in my rolling bag. It's not like I'll be needing my winter clothes anytime soon. _

 

    Eli spent the whole day exploring the dorms and adjusting herself to Death City's different time zone. Both her head and her stomach seemed to hate her for it. Her roommate did not arrive that day among any of the girls who did. The following day, it didn't look like she was going to meet her roommate before the new student orientation, so Eli put on one of the many school uniforms, a white shirt with a brown vest and matching skirt, as well as her "MEISTER" pin, put her hair up in a ponytail, and walked over to the school alone. She gasped and panted as she made her way up the torturously long stairs, seeing older students whiz past her. And when she finally made her way to the top, she felt like she would pass out. She looked over her shoulder at the view of the city.

    "It's so... I'm so high up," Eli said to herself, laughing. She took a deep breath and went inside, glancing at a sign that pointed the way to orientation. A chubby purple-haired girl sped past her in the same direction.  _ She must think she's running late. _ Eli then followed her off into a spacious room dotted here and there with other students. 

    A few notable faces stood out to her. An orange-haired meister and a brunette weapon with glasses. A lone meister, her black pigtails adorned with pinkish-red ribbons. On the other side of the room from her stood a girl with tomato-red hair and no pin. A meister with deep blue hair flanked by two weapons, a girl with gingery-brown hair tied in a side ponytail and a girl with a certainly unique hair style and color. (what was that color? some kind of grayish-brown?) And the purple-haired girl Eli saw earlier seemed to be eyeing the same faces Eli was. The girl pinned a pin reading "WEAPON" to her breast and stood by the wall. Eli stood relatively near her, but a pair of boys, both with "MEISTER" pins, took the space between them right as a much taller and older man entered the room. Eli looked over at him. He was incredibly muscular and his arms were covered with tattoos.

    "Looks like everyone's here," the man said. "My name is Sid Barrett, DWMA Staff."

    "Hi, Sid!" the gingery-brown-haired girl said. 

    "Honoka!" the deep blue-haired girl said, seeming a bit embarrassed by her friend's behavior.

    Sid chuckled at this exchange.

    "Each one of you is a meister or a weapon," he said. "And you will all be partnered up with each other in due time." 

_ Partnered? _ Eli thought.  _ Will I get to pick my own partner, or will I be assigned one? _

    "If you're having trouble picking one, there's a bingo tournament this weekend that will help you. I met my current partner there, actually."

_  A bingo game? Well, I guess that's one way to find a partner. _

    "Now I'm going to be handing out these schedules to everyone," Sid said. "Please take them and pass them around to the people around you."

    Eli took the schedule handout from another student, and stood for the rest of orientation, becoming more captivated by every word of it. 

 

    Right after orientation ended, the orange-haired girl and the brunette began talking amongst each other about where to sign up to be partners.  _ They must already know each other, _ Eli thought.  _ There's no way they'd become partners this early otherwise. _

    Eli stood and watched the others for a while, noticing how the purple-haired girl refused both of the meister boys' requests. Eli looked down at her schedule. Currently, she was automatically placed in the NOT program instead of EAT due to being a new student. There was nothing written on there on how to advance.  _ Maybe that's on a different document, _ Eli thought, leaving the room. She heard a burst of laughter, but she paid no attention to it, deciding instead to keep walking.

    "Let's see, my first class starts tomorrow," she said to herself, walking back over towards the front entrance. 

    "Um, excuse me?" a voice called out. Eli turned around to see the purple-haired girl. Now that she got a good look at her face, Eli could see the girl was very beautiful, with soft green eyes that looked very kind and sincere.

    "Yes?" Eli asked.

    "I... I noticed you're a meister," the purple-haired girl said, looking at Eli's pin for an inordinately long time. She grinned. "I'm Nozomi Tojo, a weapon. I haven't been able to fully transform just yet, but I can already transform my entire arm."

    Nozomi's right arm and shoulder glowed purple and became a flash of light, before turning into a traditional Japanese sword blade.

    "Right now I'm basically a paper cutter," she said, trying to move that arm. But it was stuck. "Oh, I finally got my shoulder joint to transform!"

    "Tojo-san, that's amazing!" Eli, who had never seen a weapon transform before, exclaimed. She walked up to Nozomi and carefully touched the flat side of her blade. "Can you feel it when I touch it?" she asked. She was sure her curiosity was apparent, and hoped it wasn't embarrassing.

    "Hmm, a little," Nozomi replied. "Oh, and you can just call me Nozomi."

    "Nozomi," Eli said. She liked he way her name sounded when she said it, and she smiled. "My name is Eli Ayase."

    "Hey, I was supposed to room with an Ayase!" Nozomi exclaimed. "Elicchi, you are staying in the girls' dorm, right?" 

_  Elicchi? _

    "Yes," Eli replied. Nozomi transformed her arm back to normal. "Should we walk back to the dorm together?"

    "I'd like that," Nozomi replied.

 

    Nozomi began unpacking and settling into the other side of her and Eli's dorm room immediately after arriving. She didn't bring anywhere near as much stuff as Eli did, and omitted bringing heavy winter wear entirely. Instead, she brought some Japanese-English dictionaries and other study materials. Eli just laid out on her bed to relax.

    "Hey, Elicchi, what does  _ 'washi-washi' _ translate to in English?" Nozomi asked. If Eli was drinking something, she probably would have spit it out right now.  _ What the heck? _

    "Indecent groping," Eli replied in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. Nozomi froze up for a second. 

    "Oh, jeez," Nozomi sighed, unpacking some more stuff. Eli wondered what exactly that sigh meant.  _ No, Eli, I don't think Nozomi would have actually done something like that. I barely know her, but she doesn't seem like the type, right? _

    "Sorry if that seemed weird, it just popped into my head, and..." Nozomi said, sounding nervous. "There is no way I cannot make this more awkward."

    "Then we'll just change the subject," Eli replied. "Are you thinking of going to the bingo game this weekend?" she asked. Nozomi tilted her head in confusion.

    "I thought I'd already found a partner," Nozomi said. "You."

    Eli felt her face become hot as Nozomi said this.  _ Must be the desert heat, _ she thought.

    "Me?" she asked.

    "Well, yeah," Nozomi replied with a smile. "I mean, we seem to be getting along well, and we're roomies..."

    This desert heat was also doing something to Eli's heart, making it beat so fast.  _ No, Eli, stay calm. You're the cool and cute Elichika. _

    "Why not try it, then?" Eli asked. "Being partners."

    The grin on Nozomi's face was absolutely radiant.

    "I knew you'd say that, Elicchi," she said, pulling out a deck of tarot cards from her bag. "The cards told me I'd find my first lasting friendship, my partner, my destiny at this school. And the cards never tell lies."

    Eli wasn't sure whether she was absolutely captivated, or whether she was about to laugh. Nozomi certainly has revealed herself to be a weirdo. But in a way, she was charming. And Eli quite liked that. This certainly was going to be an interesting partnership.


	4. Prologue 4: Nico Yazawa

Nico Yazawa, DWMA incoming first-year, class not yet placed.

 

    She came all the way over here for one reason: become the number one meister in DWMA! New student orientation had just ended, and Nico had her schedule. But no weapon partner. How could she be the number one meister without a weapon to wield? Nico scanned the room for a potential weapon partner. Ideally, she wanted her partner to be another girl, so she looked at the girls first. Her gaze turned to the girl with tomato-red hair on the other side of the room. She didn't have her pin on, so ideally there was a fifty-fifty chance she'd be a weapon. That was good enough odds for Nico to take, so she walked over to approach her.

    "Hey, are you looking for a meister?" Nico asked. "Because it just so happens the heart-stoppingly adorable Nico-Nii's looking for a weapon."

    "What's with that? I don't understand it," the tomato-haired girl replied. " 'Heart-stoppingly adorable Nico-Nii?' Why don't you at least adjust to the school a bit before being so pushy about partners?" she snapped. And with a huff, she walked off.

    "I don't understand you," Nico said under her breath. She turned around to see a girl with curly ginger-blonde hair and more importantly, a pin reading "WEAPON." She looked really excited for some reason when seeing Nico. As she should be, of course.

    "You're accepting a partner, right?" the girl asked. "My name is Marika Ichinose, and I transform into an arm cannon."

    "An arm cannon, huh? Well, I think I could wield that," Nico replied. "And now to introduce myself," she said, taking a deep breath. "Nico-Nico-Nii! I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart! Here to bring a smile, it's Nico-Nico Yazawa! I'm Nico-Nii, and I'll take your soul, Nico!"

    Nearly everyone in the entire room burst out laughing, and Nico went bright red. She quickly realized her cutesy act was not going to work well here at DWMA. But for some reason, Marika was enamored, as she rightfully should have been.

    "That was so cute!" Marika squealed. "Wanna be partners?"

    "Heh, considering how charmed you were by me, I suppose that's just what you need," Nico replied, trying to save face and seem cool again. Marika beamed, and she and Nico headed off to the girls' dormitory together to Marika's room. 

 

    Marika's side of the room was full of various objects and posters to the point where it was really hard to place exactly what her interests were. She seemed all over the place, a loose cannon if you will. Nico immediately began unpacking her own stuff and striking casual conversation with Marika to try and get to know her. (mainly to pin down what kind of person she even was in the first place)

    "So, Ichinose, what's all this?" Nico asked.

    "It's okay to just call me Marika, not like we'll need formalities anyway," Marika replied. "And all this is from the hobbies I took on in the past two weeks since I came to Death City."

    "Two weeks?" Nico asked in disbelief. The room was jam-packed with practically everything anyone could conceivably need for several hobbies. And all over the last two weeks? Nico suddenly got a bad feeling about how long this partnership might last.

    "Yeah, I tend to go all out on stuff for a bit before completely crashing," Marika replied. "My parents hate it, it's costing them a fortune. They're like 'Marika, promise us you'll stay at DWMA for longer than a few days,' 'Marika-chan, being a weapon isn't gonna be like your hobbies,' 'For God's sake, Marika, those lessons are non-refundable, not to mention the cost of repairing our floor from whatever your arm just did.' Honestly, I think they were more ticked off from me quitting whatever it was I was doing that week than me being a weapon."

    "You should've seen how my mom reacted when I said I wanted to be a meister," Nico said.

    "Bet that was a handful," Marika replied. "Anyway, I've got a good feeling about you. I bet we'll move up to EAT in no time, heck, you could even make me into a Death Scythe in our first year! Well, 'Death Arm Cannon,' but you get the idea."

    "Make you a Death Scythe in our first year?" Nico gasped. It had never been done before, as most students stayed in the NOT program their entire time at DWMA, even those who advanced to EAT barely ever doing that in their first year. And the amount of weapons who become Death Scythes were few and far between, Nico remembered it being only in the single digits last time she looked it up. This was the perfect way to become the number one meister in DWMA history.

    "Yeah, but first we gotta see if our wavelengths are even compatible," Marika said. "Are you right or left handed?" she asked.

    "Right," Nico replied. Marika then grabbed onto Nico's right wrist with both her hands, and her body dissolved into a flash of pinkish light before rematerializing around Nico's forearm as a silvery five-barreled arm cannon. Nico could feel a tingling in her soul as she tried to move her hand around in Marika's inner mechanisms. She could feel a separate trigger for each finger, which must correspond to the barrels. Nico was careful not to accidentally fire and damage the floor on her first day here, because the dorm superintendent gave her the creeps.

    "Well, what do you think?" Marika asked, a reflection of her form appearing on the weapon's exterior.

    "It feels kinda prickly, but I could get used to it," Nico said, lifting her arm. She could really feel the weight as she did. "This thing looks really sci-fi, almost like alien tech. A unique weapon like this would definitely set us apart from the get-go. We'll be the legendary, beautiful, and adorable Nico Yazawa, world's most powerful meister, and her arm cannon Marika."

    "Really?" Marika asked, sounding disappointed at her lack of showy title. Nico gave her a smug laugh before Marika returned to her human form. "Jeez, Nico-chan, let me in on some of the glory. I'm gonna go to the kitchens for dinner, wanna come with?"

    "Oh right, it's dinner time in this time zone," Nico said. "I'm still not entirely used to such a drastic change."

    Marika laughed, and led Nico off to make dinner together.

 

    Nico and Marika officially wrote themselves in as partners the following day, and to celebrate, they went down to the firing range to test out Marika's capabilities. Marika grabbed Nico's wrist and transformed again as Nico faced the target. Her arm strained to hold up Marika's weight for the first fifteen seconds, until the sensation of heaviness seemed to dull. Nico took aim at the target on the wall, and clenched her hand into a fist. BLAM! A flash of pink light came out from Marika's barrels, utterly destroying the target on impact. Nico stared at what was left of the target in awe, her soul searing with what felt like an overapplication of heat and cold at the same time.

    "A-amazing," she managed to sputter out. "Looks like, urk, everyone's gonna Nico-Nico-need to watch out for the two of us!"

    "Please never make that joke again," Marika said. She sounded a lot more dejected than she did yesterday. Did she not notice how their combined power obliterated that target? "For some reason firing really drained me."

    "What?" Nico asked, her voice making a childish whine. "Marikaaaaaaa, you're meant to have this much power, I think. How could you get drained after only one shot?"

    "I don't know, plus my soul feels super prickly," Marika replied, going back into human form. "I gotta talk to another pair to see if that's normal," she said, running off for a second.  _ What if our wavelengths aren't compatible? _ Nico thought to herself.  _ That means Marika's gonna just cast me off like I'm just another hobby she lost interest in. But she's just what I need to be the world's best meister, so maybe I should fake it, even though it hurts. We weren't resonating, so it's not like she could know that. _

    "I saw you wince," the tomato-haired girl from orientation said. She was standing with one of the boys from orientation, though he was just on his phone, not saying a word. "She's not compatible, is she?" the girl asked.

    "Why do you care?" Nico asked. "You already have a partner."

    "He's not official," the girl replied. "Besides, it's not like I'd want to partner with you or anything."

    Nico chuckled a bit at that line.  _ Never thought I'd hear something like that in real life, _ she thought.  _ It's practically textbook tsundere! _

    "Who said I want to switch?" Nico asked. "I'm sure Marika and I just are having a rough patch in the beginning like all partners."

    "A good meister and weapon don't have obvious wavelength difficulties at any stage," the girl taunted. "You're supposed to wield her like she's weightless, and her bullets should be effortless to fire without putting strain on your soul."

    "Nico-chan!" Marika called out, coming back with a surprisingly casual expression on her face. "Can we talk for a second?"

    "Yeah, sure," Nico replied. "I'm tired of what's-her-face thinking she knows everything about our partnership," she added, glaring at the tomato-haired girl right in the eyes.

    "It's not 'what's-her-face', it's Nishikino," the girl snapped back. "Maki Nishikino."

    "Yeah, okay," Nico said, walking off with Marika outside, not being subtle at all about brushing Maki off. Besides, Nico still wasn't entirely sure Maki was a weapon anyway. She might just be a meister trying to steal a top-notch weapon like Marika away from her. But Nico definitely could make it with Marika. She had to. Marika was her ideal shot at being the number one meister in DWMA.

    "Nico-chan, I think our wavelengths might not be compatible," Marika said. Nico could feel an awful pang in her stomach.

    "Marika, you're... you're being quick to judge," Nico replied. "We've only tried for one day, I'm sure we can make this partnership work if we kept at it."

    "Fine, I'll give us a week," Marika said. "Or until I lose interest, whichever comes first," she added in a joking tone. But Nico didn't find the joke very funny.

 

    Nico and Marika spent every minute they could the next day training at the firing range, trying to force themselves to keep going. If their wavelengths couldn't co-operate, they'd make them co-operate. Nico's soul felt like it was searing, and it kept searing, and it wouldn't stop searing. Marika's bullets took more force to fire. The two of them both ended up drained after only a few minutes. So they drank some juice and tried again. Same result.

    "This is hopeless," Marika said, going back into human form. "Look, I don't wanna risk injuring ourselves any further, so it's better if I just bail." Nico couldn't believe what Marika was saying. She figured Marika might cast her away soon enough, but it was still a big shock that it was happening after less than a week.

    "Wait, Marika, didn't you say I could make you into a Death Scythe in our first year?" Nico asked. Marika coughed, spitting up blood.

    "I really have to go see the nurse," Marika said. "I can become a Death Scythe with any meister."  And there went Nico's ideal shot. "Once Medusa-sensei's done patching me up, we can discuss who'll move out of the room." Marika sputtered again, more blood dripping into her hand. "I'm thinking maybe whoever gets a new partner fir-"

    "MARIKA, GO TO THE FREAKING NURSE!" Nico shouted. "Jeez, I'll even walk you there if you still wanna talk."

 

    After Nico took Marika to the nurse, the two formally dissolved their two-day partnership. Nico then returned to the firing range in hopes her bag was still there. She saw Maki sitting by it, practically guarding the thing. This contradicted practically every assumption Nico had about her. Namely the ones about how she thought Maki was a jerk who didn't care about her in the slightest. Which were a majority of her assumptions. What could she say, she didn't know her that well.

    "I-I wasn't guarding your bag or anything," Maki said, handing the bag back to Nico. "It's just if it were my bag I wouldn't want it stolen and I'm a decent human being so I had to watch it for you."

    "Uh, thanks," Nico replied. Maybe this Nishikino girl isn't so bad. "I'm not partners with Marika anymore, so whichever one of us you were trying to steal from the other you can."

    "I wasn't trying to steal you from that Ichinose girl," Maki said, sounding a lot more sincere than her last statement.

    "So you're a weapon?" Nico asked.

    "Surprised you didn't get the hint," Maki replied. "I transform into a pistol."

    "That's why you've been coming down to the firing range," Nico said. "You've been testing unpartnered meisters for compatibility here, aren't you?"

    "What else would I do here?" Maki asked. "A gun's a complicated weapon with many parts, I can't just partially transform like bladed weapons do and still be usable."

    "Wanna test if we're compatible?" Nico asked, pointing to the few still-intact targets left in the range after what she and Marika did to the rest..

    "No way, you greedy shrimp," Maki replied.  _ Greedy? Shrimp? _ "I know partnerships were stressed in orientation, but you can't just go into them all willy-nilly."

    "I am not a shrimp!" Nico snapped. "My cuteness is just more concentrated in a small size. You know smaller's cuter, right?" Maki rolled her eyes.

    "Whatever," Maki replied. "I can't partner up with you because, um, we're in separate classes and it'd be a pain in the neck for the faculty to mess all the information and paperwork around so we'd be in the same one like partners should. Now I gave your bag back, so I don't see why I have to keep sticking around."

 

    And with that, Maki left. And Nico remained partnerless. But for now, Nico felt like she had another shot at a partner. And that shot wouldn't come from an arm cannon, but a pistol.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for the prologues! Stay tuned for updates on the first arc of the main story!


	5. Finally partnered!

     It had been two years since Maki enrolled as a weapon in DWMA. She stayed in a three-person dorm room with Rin Hoshizora and Hanayo Koizumi for the entire time she was there. Without a partner or autonomous capabilities, Maki didn't think she had a shot for moving up to EAT. And why should she? It's not like she wanted to be a weapon in the first place, the piano was her true passion. Not like she could even do that. Nobody would ever see her as a pianist, only as a pistol. And her parents said she had to stay here until she graduates high school because of how prestigious of a school DWMA was and how that would look oh so good on her college applications. So she just had to study hard and keep working as best she could until it could finally end.  _ Four more years, _ Maki thought.  _ You can do this. _

    "Stupid school, I hate it," Maki muttered to herself.  _ Why couldn't the weapon gene have skipped another generation and not affected me? _

    "Aww, Maki-chan, are you feeling sad, nya?" Rin asked, grabbing Maki's shoulders and getting way too close to her face.

    "Get off!" Maki snapped, pushing Rin off of her. "I'm just sick of this, that's all."

    "Sick of being a NOT student?" Rin asked. "Because you definitely have enough talent to move up to EAT if you got a partner, nya."

    "That's not what I meant," Maki replied, getting up from her chair. She didn't want to further explain this to Rin, why should she? Not like she'll be seeing her again after she gets out of here. Maki passed by Hanayo in the hall and gave her a quick wave hello. At least Hanayo never got in her face about anything.

    "Hi, Maki-chan!" Hanayo said. "Nico-chan from that other class wants to talk to you again. She's right outside."

    Maki sighed. "If this is about her wanting to be my partner she should give it a rest," she said, walking off towards the entrance hall. She was just gonna wander around aimlessly otherwise, so why not see what Nico wants? Maki opened up the front door, expecting this to be just a quick little conversation just like all the other ones. Five minutes tops, and then she'd have Nico out of her hair unless she got another partnership that would end in failure or incompatibility. Maki looked at how Nico was sitting on the front steps. She hadn't grown a bit in two years, still as short as ever, and she was all scrunched up and sulky-looking.

 

    "Hey," Nico said. Her tone was just as dejected as she looked.

    "What's wrong?" Maki asked, forcefully making her tone abrasive so she wouldn't sound too sympathetic.

    "You know Nozomi and Eli from my class?" Nico asked in return. Maki nodded. "They've already made it to EAT. They're transferring up this year once the new students come in."

    "Isn't that great news?" Maki pondered. "They're your friends, you should be proud of them, right?"

    "I wanted to be the first in my class to get to EAT," Nico said. "I'm supposed to be the number one meister in DWMA, but I can't even be the number one meister in my class, especially without a weapon." 

    "You know, you gave yourself that title," Maki said. "If you really want people other than yourself to call you the 'number one meister', then get a weapon partner and move up in the ranks yourself."

    "That's easier said than done!" Nico shouted. "I've tried for two years but I've never had a partner for more than a month! And then I got this reputation as 'difficult' and stuff and now I can't even get anyone to give me a chance. Maki-chan, I know I've asked you a few times before and it never lined up, but would you actually consider being my partner? For real?"

    Maki went through the pros and cons in her head.

    "Fine," she said. "But it's not like I'm doing this for you or anything, I just don't happen to have a real partner of my own."

    Nico laughed.

    "Geez, Maki-chan, you're always so stubborn," she said, getting up on her feet.

 

    From being around Nico for two years, Maki learned a lot about her. Nico was just as stubborn as Maki, but with a huge, huge ego. Maki thought Nico was just going to be a pest, maybe a foil, nothing more. But here they were walking down to the front office to officially become partners. The tough yet sweet old lady at the desk decided Nico was going to transfer to Maki, Rin, and Hanayo's class to make it easier for the two new partners. Even though they were two years apart, (Maki was almost shocked when she found out Nico was the older one) they joined DWMA in the same year, so this wasn't too bothersome for administration. Maki remembered hearing how this happened frequently, especially in the EAT department. Which she guessed was going to be her new goal, since Nico wanted to advance so badly. Maki returned to her triple room one last time to pack up her stuff, sighing.

 

    "WHAAAAAT???????" Hanayo shrieked. Maki had told her everything about what happened in the last hour, and from the looks of it, Hanayo was definitely not apathetic. "Maki-chan, you-you're leaving?"  _ Misleading. _

    "Leaving?" Rin asked in disbelief, dashing back into the room. "Who's leaving?"

    "Maki-chan!" Hanayo replied.

    "I'm not leaving the school or anything, I'm just taking a double room with Nico," Maki said. "Miss Misery might transfer the two of you to a different double to make room for the new first-years coming in tomorrow, so make sure you know where your stuff is incase she does."

    Rin sighed with relief, and Hanayo walked over to calm her down the rest of the way.

    "For a second I thought you were leaving forever, nya," Rin said.

    "Well, I'm not," Maki replied, starting to pack up her stuff. H _ onestly, why are Rin and Hanayo being like this? _ she thought.  _ I'm only moving down the hall. _ "We're still gonna be in the same dorm, and the same class. So don't worry, I'll just be down the hall."

    "I'm really glad you were able to get a good partner," Hanayo said. "I'm gonna miss being your roommate, but I wish you the best."

    "Me too, nya!" Rin exclaimed. Maki looked away from them for a second to hide her smile.

    "Thanks, you two," she said, zipping up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, or around the dorms, whichever comes first."

 

    Maki made her way down the hallway to a two-person room on the other side where Nico was waving her down. Maki set her bag down on the plainer, emptier looking bed, assuming it was hers. After all, Nico put decorative pillows on the other one, so that had to be how she marked it as hers.

    "I kinda took up all the storage space, so you're gonna have to keep your stuff in that bag until you buy some bins from a home store or something," Nico said. Maki's expression turned sour again. She took a deep breath, about to say something, but she didn't. For like half a second.

    "Why in the world would you take up all the  _ communal _ storage?" Maki snapped.

    "Because they give us barely any and I've lived pretty much alone in this room for two years," Nico replied. The door opened to reveal a chubby purple-haired girl Maki recognized to be Nozomi Tojo. Maki had met Nozomi in the school library a little over a year ago when Nozomi and her meister, Eli Ayase, gave Maki a few pointers on some academic work. They didn't really see each other much besides a few run-ins in the cafeteria, dorms, or library again, so Maki didn't know either Nozomi or Eli very well.

    "Oh, Nicocchi, do you finally have a partner?" Nozomi asked.

    "What the heck's that 'finally' about?" Nico asked in return. But she didn't seem malicious, and neither did Nozomi. They were just joking like friends do. Nozomi even playfully laughed.

    "Oh, come on," Nozomi replied. "Maki Nishikino, wasn't it?" she asked Maki.

    "Yes," Maki said. "But do  _ not _ call me Makicchi or whatever."

    "I wasn't planning on it, you'd just be Maki-chan," Nozomi said. Maki sighed with relief. She didn't want to get stuck with an embarrassing nickname like Nico did. (And from what she remembered about that day in the library, Eli got a nickname like that too. Elicchi, wasn't it?)

    "Thank goodness. I heard the good news about you and Eli," Maki said, changing the subject. "Congratulations on advancing to EAT."

    "Thank you!" Nozomi replied. "It was definitely a trial, but we managed it together. I couldn't ask for a better partner than Elicchi. If the two of you are aiming for EAT, I hope you two can resonate and work together just as strongly as we did."

    "We will, and we'll be ten times better!" Nico exclaimed. Maki rolled her eyes.  _ Of course she'd say something like that. _

 

    Over the next several weeks, Maki and Nico worked to solidify their budding partnership. One of their most common activities was going to the firing range for as it turned out, Nico was only a natural at hitting targets with a large weapon that had some type of spread fire, not a tiny pistol.

    "Come on!" Nico huffed, missing the target yet again. "Why can't I aim this stupid thing?"

    "Actually look down the sight," Maki said, appearing as a reflection on the side of the pistol.

    "What sight?" Nico asked.

    "Look down the top, there should be a little notch," Maki replied. Nico looked at the top of Maki's pistol form.

    "That's what that thing was," she said, looking down at it and aiming at the target. Nico squinted for a second and pulled the trigger. A red flash erupted from Maki's barrel, the bolt hitting the target. Nowhere near the bullseye, but at least on the target. Maki was glad that Nico at least was making some progress. But if she really wanted to aim for EAT, she should aim better for the bullseye. Apparently satisfied with at least being able to hit part of the target staring into the sights dead-on, Nico started making weird poses and aiming at the target with them.  _ What in the world is she doing? _

    "Nico-Nico-shoot!" Nico exclaimed, firing at the target and missing. She looked down and noticed the confused look Maki was giving her. "What, I need a cute pose for when I take down the bad guys."

    "Firing a gun isn't supposed to be 'cute', you have to be responsible," Maki replied. "You don't want to risk injuring yourself or bystanders."

    "But aren't the bolts made from my soul wavelength?" Nico asked, her arm relaxing to where Maki's barrel was pointed at her foot. Nico looked down at the pistol in her hand. "Hitting me wouldn't have an effect, would it?"

    "Don't you dare!" Maki shouted. "I mean, it's not like I think you'd actually shoot yourself or anything but gun safety, Nico! Gun safety!" Maki felt like she was going to end up the stereotypical "worried weapon" like Hanayo was. What a pain. She hoped Nico would come around soon so she didn't have to spend so much time worrying for her. The less she had to worry, the more time she could spend helping herself and Nico advance to EAT and kick butt for real.

    "How are you two doing?" a calm, soothing voice asked. Maki thought she recognized it from somewhere... was it Eli?

    "Eli! Nozomi!" Nico exclaimed, confirming Maki's hunch. "What are you two doing here?"

    "Elicchi and I just got back from a sparring match with Tsubasa Kira and her two combat knives," Nozomi replied, entering the room behind her partner. "Ms. Nygus gave both teams pretty good marks."

    "Yeah, but theirs was just a little bit ahead of ours," Eli sighed. Maki returned to human form in a flash of glowing red light, surprising Nico for a second. She looked over at Nozomi and Eli, a lock of her tomato-red hair twirled around her index finger.

    "I'm sure we'll do better next time," Nozomi said, putting an arm on Eli's shoulder. Maki noticed something about the way Nozomi and Eli were exchanging looks amongst each other. _ Hold on... are they? _ she thought, before brushing it off.  _ Those kind of rumors circulate around any meister/weapon partnership. _

    "Yeah, I know you two will," Nico added. "Maki-chan and I have been doing well here at the range, we've been hitting the target dead center every time!"  _ Obvious lie, _ Maki thought. Nozomi  seemed suspicious, and walked around Maki and Nico to inspect the target on the wall. There were about twenty marks on the wall, only about three actually on the target. And none near the center at all, not even in the slightest. Nico tried to pull Nozomi away from the target in vain.

    "You don't have to pull me away, Nicocchi, I already saw it," Nozomi said.

    "Nozomi, you-"

    "HEY, NOW!" Maki shouted. Nico and Nozomi froze up. "Yes, we get it, Nico-chan's a bad shot, but can we please move on to something else?"

    "Maki-chan, you're blushing~" Nozomi said. "Somebody's embarrassed."

    "You'd be too if Eli was this inept at wielding you," Maki replied, looking away from the two older girls in front of her in order to hide her face. Eli walked up to Maki, a concerned look on her face as her soft blue eyes met sharp violet.

    "Maki, you might want to be less harsh with people," Eli said. She leaned in close to Maki's ear. "Your partnership won't last unless you both communicate more effectively and constructively, remember that," she added at a whisper. Her voice sounded a lot stronger and more serious than it usually did, giving Maki an odd feeling. "Petty strife will get both of you nowhere."

    Maki looked over at Nico and Nozomi, who seemed to be a lot more relaxed than they were before. Especially since Nozomi was sitting on the floor doing a tarot reading for Nico for some reason.  _ Where was she keeping those cards before? Her uniform didn't have pockets. _

    "Fool, Chariot, and Death?" Nico asked in exclamation. There was a horrified expression on her face.

    "All major arcana cards, you must be at or near a really big turn in your life," Nozomi replied. "In addition to that, The Fool and The Chariot are reversed."

    "What's all this mean?" Maki asked, walking over and squatting down to look at the cards better.

    "It means a lot of things for you and Nicocchi," Nozomi replied.  _ Wait, both of us? _ "When reversed, The Fool means naivety, foolishness, recklessness, and risk-taking. The reversed Chariot symbolizes lack of control and aggression, while Death, Death is upright this time, so its meaning is that of change and transformation. Or just simply a beginning or an end."

    "So I won't die?" Nico asked. Nozomi gave a forced giggle.  _ She must get that one a lot, _ Maki thought.

    "No," Nozomi said. "You won't die, but from the looks of it, you are in a moment of rocky beginnings." This... this is obvious. Nozomi should just hurry up and tell us something we don't know. "But," Nozomi continued with, "they will change. Nicocchi may be a fool, and Maki-chan may be aggressive, so you may feel you don't mesh at first, but soon your partnership will sync better and you two will be able to resonate and know each other's true feelings."

    "When have I ever been aggressive?" Maki snapped. "And 'our true feelings'? Are you implying I'm... uh, we're hiding something?"

    Nozomi chuckled to herself.

    "The cards never lie," she said. "Now would you like me to do readings for the two of you individually?"

    "No way," Maki said.

    "Yeah, we've heard enough," Nico replied, walking back over to her bag and getting out her water bottle. Maki almost got up to join her, but was stopped by Nozomi loudly clearing her throat and grabbing her ankle. Maki whipped her head around to see Nozomi with a curiously sympathetic expression.

 

    "You are hiding something, aren't you?" Nozomi asked. Maki sat back down on her feet, refusing to look Nozomi in the eye. She wasn't close enough to Nozomi to tell her anything about how much she just wanted to get it over with and graduate, about how much she hated being a weapon and would rather just be playing the piano at home, about how two years at this school made her even more bitter and resentful by the day. And to top it all off, she wasn't even sure her piano would still be there once she graduated and was finally able to return home.

    "No," Maki replied. "I am not hiding anything."

    "Okay," Nozomi said. Thankfully she didn't know Maki well enough to know her lying tells, or else this could have turned into something much worse. Maki stood back up and walked past Eli to Nico.

    "Hey, do you want to keep practicing?" Maki asked.

    "Nah, I'm about ready to head back," Nico replied.

    "We'll join you two," Eli added. "Since Nozomi's a sword, we don't really have any reason to remain here at the firing range, plus I like walking in town this time of day."

 

    The four of them headed out back towards the dorms, and thoughts of the reading, Eli's advice, and pretty much everything else that happened at the range that afternoon, kept rushing through Maki's head. Eli and Nozomi seemed to have everything figured out, yet she and Nico were just... Maki and Nico. Perhaps it was unfair to compare a pair of NOT students who had just partnered up to EAT students who had been together for two years, but Maki couldn't help herself. People always compared themselves to others who seemed better than they were, it was practically human nature. Besides, she wasn't the only one making this comparison, the whole reason Nico reached out to Maki again after all this time was that she was comparing herself to them. Comparing herself to her own friends. Maybe with Maki, Nico could make it to EAT. And though Maki was still on the fence about becoming an EAT student, she was a Demon Weapon, so it's not like being in EAT would be that much different. After all, she'd just have to let Nico wield her and hope she doesn't miss. Only it wouldn't be stationary targets but the monsters of humanity who have gone beyond their reach of saving. Those that became Kishin eggs. There was no way Nico was at the level where she could fight them, so for now, Maki figured she had to help guide her through training until Nico got to that level and could advance.

 

    "Maki, you haven't said a word the entire walk," Eli said. Maki suddenly realized that, lost in her thoughts, she had tuned out the three older girls' entire conversation.

    "What?" Maki asked. "Have I?"  _ Crap. _

    "Yeah, we were just talking about going to Deathbucks this weekend for coffee," Nico replied.  _ Oh, thank goodness it was something light and frivolous.  _

    "I guess I don't have a choice but to go with you guys, since I don't have any other plans," Maki said.

    "Nozomi, what's with that look?" Eli asked.

    "I just think you three would look good in the cute little waitress uniforms," Nozomi replied, a smug look on her face. "Especially you, Elicchi," she added. Eli blushed a bit.

    "Nozomi..." she said.

    "What are the uniforms like?" Maki asked.

    "They've got this miniskirt thing goin' on, and these big blue bows on the chest, and these cute little skull hats, and thigh highs..." Nozomi began.  _ Sounds more embarrassing than cute, _ Maki thought to herself as Nozomi kept going on about pretty much every little detail. "...like I know the coffee and the food's really good and all, but I really come over there for the uniforms," Nozomi concluded with.

    "Sounds like something a dirty old man would say," Maki said. Nico burst out laughing. And it wasn't any kind of "trying to sound cute" laugh, either. It was a full-on, loud, no-holds-barred laugh, complete with a bit of snorting through her nose. Maki had never seen someone so tiny laugh like that before. The image was so amusing to her that she was even forcing herself not to laugh. (to no avail, proving Nico’s laugh to be contagious) Nozomi seemed to find Maki's expression just as funny, and got the giggles herself. Eli was the only one not laughing by this point, but she still had a big smile on her face. Nozomi whispered something in Eli's ear that Maki did not quite catch. And that was what broke Eli for some reason. Now all four of them were laughing out in the middle of the path, without any care as to how they looked doing so. Their laughing faded down, Nico even wiping away a few tears.

    "I won," she said.

    "I didn't realize this was going to be a competition," Eli replied. Maki smiled. 

 

_ Perhaps being wound up with this group is a good thing after all,  _ Maki thought, losing the last shred of doubt she had about it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this one seems a bit rough, I didn't have as detailed of an outline as I usually do. 
> 
> The second-year trio's finally going to return (outside of cameo appearances) next chapter after a relatively long absence, so yay!


	6. Group Training!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know the ages are one year below the girls' canon ages in LL, but I have a reason for this

    "A training group?" Umi asked.

    "Yeah!" Honoka replied. "We could gather up a bunch of other girls from around the dorm who want to advance to EAT as much as we do, and we could all train together after school and on weekends!"

    "And you could be the coach, Umi-chan!" Kotori added.

    "I like the sound of that," Umi replied. It's true that she wanted to advance, she was the one who initially brought it up to Kotori and Honoka a year ago after seeing the EAT students sparring in that year's Death Fest. A boy with electric blue hair won it all that year, and he was barely twelve. If a twelve-year-old could win the entire Death Fest, so could the fourteen-at-the-time Umi Sonoda. Plus, the thought of fighting Kishin eggs with Honoka and Kotori to help rid the world of its evils was quite an appealing idea as well. (though she wasn't sure she'd be able to take enough missions to make both of them Death Scythes while she was still at DWMA because keeping up her studies was important, and you don't have to make any Death Scythes to graduate)

    "Then it's settled!" Honoka exclaimed. "Kotori-chan, you have the fliers ready, right?"

    "The designs, yes. But the copies, no," Kotori replied. "Do either of you want to walk with me to the copy shop?"

    "We've been here for two years and you still call them 'copy shops'," Umi said. "They're called 'print shops'."

    "Nuh-uh!" Honoka said. "They're 'copier places'."

    "Well, whichever they are, I have to get going if I want all the copies done before it closes," Kotori said, looking at the clock.

    "I'll go with you, Kotori," Umi said with a smile.

    "Me too!" Honoka added. "I wanna help you two carry the copies, and see firsthand who's right about it being a 'copier place' or not."

    "Jeez, Honoka, how many copies do you think we're gonna make?" Umi asked. "If we're just putting them up in common areas of the dorms, we won't need more than half a dozen."

 

    Umi was right about that. When she, Kotori, and Honoka made their way to the print shop (which Umi was also right on), they only had three copies made. One to put up at the front hall, another by the kitchens, one by the bath house, and they kept the original in their dorm room just incase something happened with the copies.

 

    And much to their pleasant surprise, someone knocked on their dorm room door that very evening. Umi answered the door, hoping whoever was on the other end was their first applicant.

    "So, I heard you guys were doing an EAT training camp?" a pigtailed girl who looked to be about eleven or twelve asked. She was standing next to a girl with red hair and sharp violet eyes who looked about fourteen or fifteen.

    "Yes, we are," Umi replied. "What are your names and ages?"

    "Nico Yazawa, sixteen," the pigtailed girl replied.  _ Okay, maybe I miscalculated her age, _ Umi thought. "This is my weapon partner, Maki. She's fourteen."

    "My name is Umi Sonoda, and I am fifteen years old," Umi said. She opened the door further to reveal Honoka and Kotori playing cards on the dorm room floor. "These are my weapon partners, Honoka Kousaka and Kotori Minami. They're both the same age as I am."

    "Two partners?" Maki asked. "What kind of weapons are you guys?"

    "Honoka, Kotori..." Umi said.

    "Okay!" Honoka exclaimed.

    "Mhm!" Kotori nodded in acknowledgement. Umi held out her left hand and held up her hair with her right. Honoka and Kotori both dissolved into dazzling flashes of orange and silver light respectively, transforming into a bow and quiver. Honoka transformed right into Umi's hand, and Kotori right to her back, her strap setting itself snugly against Umi's torso. Silvery-blue soul arrows manifested from inside Kotori's quiver, ready for Umi to pick up and fire. Nico and Maki gasped in amazement.

    "I've never seen an archery set before!" Nico exclaimed.

    "I understand your surprise, a majority of Demon Weapons do end up with bladed forms," Umi replied. Honoka and Kotori then returned to their human forms, one standing on each side of Umi. "The training group we'll be hosting is entirely unofficial, but we will be..." 

    "Umi-chan, no offense, but you're gonna bore them to sleep," Honoka interjected. "Okay, so basically the training group's gonna be a bunch of us doing weapons practice and stuff on like the front lawn or something, we don't have an exact location. I considered the roof, but the dorm building's not built right for that. So we're just gonna go wherever until Miss Misery tells us to go practice somewhere else."

    "Honoka, you're making our group sound too unprofessional," Umi said.

    "But you got the basics of it, Honoka-chan," Kotori added. "It's true we're not too organized, but it's gonna be a lot of fun!  Our first spot's gonna be on the front lawn as Honoka-chan said, we'll be setting up at the time on our flyer, which for a quick refresher, is Saturday at ten o'clock. We hope to see you there!"

    "Okay, we'll be there!" Nico replied.

    "Yeah, if you get all your homework done before then," Maki added.

    "Aww, but Maki-chan, they could help us get into EAT..."

    "So will getting good grades," Maki replied. "Now come on, we've still got plenty to go over."

 

    Saturday couldn't have come soon enough. Umi, Honoka, and Kotori went out to the front lawn about fifteen minutes before ten incase someone was early. As per usual for the beginning of summer in Death City, it was hot and sunny out. Umi started putting on extra sunscreen as Honoka started chattering with Kotori as to what exactly "o'clock" meant and where it came from. Nico and Maki did show up about five minutes before ten (while Umi was setting up training dummies), arriving with two other girls, a chubby brunette with glasses and a scrappy orange-haired girl with yellow eyes like a cat's. 

    "This is Rin and this is Hanayo, they're friends from our class," Maki said, pointing to the orange-haired girl and the brunette respectively.

    "Hello!" Rin exclaimed. "I'm Rin, and I'm a meister."

    "Nice to meet you, my name is Hanayo Koizumi, and I'm a weapon," Hanayo added.

    "Pleasure to meet you, Hanayo, Rin," Umi replied. "I'm Umi Sonoda, and these are my two weapon partners, Honoka and Kotori."

    "Hey, Hanayo-chan, Maki-chan?" Honoka asked. "What kind of weapons are you girls?"

    "Why don't we show you, nya?" Rin asked in return, holding out her hand. Nico held out hers as well, gesturing towards Maki. Maki nodded her head, and in a flash of red light, transformed into her pistol form, right into Nico's hand. Umi looked rather impressed at Maki's smooth transformation, before looking over at Rin and Hanayo. Hanayo grabbed Rin's hand and slowly, from the feet up until the hand that held Rin's, dissolved into brilliant green light and became a chain morningstar. Her chain jingled as gravity pulled it down, and there were blunt dots on the ball where the spikes went, which after the ball stopped moving, gleamed and fully extended into the sharp four-inch points they were meant to be.

    "A delay on the points?" Umi asked, walking up to get a closer look at Hanayo's spikes. "That's a very unusual transforming technique, how'd you learn how to do it?"

    Hanayo appeared as a bunch of little reflections on each spike. She adjusted her glasses, which still remained while she was in weapon space.

    "A year ago, I accidentally injured Rin-chan," Hanayo replied, her eyes heavy and her head looking down to her feet, "It wasn't serious, but I still never wanted it to happen again because what if it did, but worse?"

    "Kayo-chin, Kayo-chin!" Rin exclaimed. "Sure I may still have the scar," she said, gesturing towards a small mark on her thigh, "but it's okay now! I'm fine. And I'm really grateful you figured out how to prevent it, nya! I'm super grateful that you're looking out for me, I couldn't ask for a better partner!"

    Hanayo returned to human form, her hand still holding Rin's.

    "I know," Hanayo said with a smile. "Thank you, Rin-chan."

    "Hey, pay attention to me," Nico said, firing Maki into the air with a loud and sudden flash. Everyone else jumped back in shock. "So are we gonna start training?"

    Umi looked at her watch. It was already ten o'clock, and though there were two girls watching them from afar, it didn't look like they were coming over to join them, so she might as well go ahead.

    "Yes, we'll start," Umi said, slipping on her plastron. "Everyone, transform!"

    Honoka, Kotori, and Hanayo all transformed into their weapon forms, right into their meister's hands. (except for Kotori, who strapped herself around Umi's torso as per usual) Umi checked to make sure Kotori's strap was on tight enough, before surveying the other meisters and weapons. She had a bow and quiver, Nico had a pistol, and Rin had a chain morningstar.  _ Looks like sparring exercises aren't going to happen from the get-go, _ Umi thought. _ It's really amazing how varied Demon Weapons can be. _

    "Okay, I was planning on starting us off with sparring..." Umi said, "but looks like that won't be feasible. Instead we're going to move right on to practicing with the dummies. I'll be going first to show you how it's done."

    Umi took a few steps back so she'd be at a good distance to fire at one of the training dummies. Kotori crafted these well, they almost look professional, Umi thought, taking one last look at her friend's handiwork. She pulled out one of the silvery-blue arrows and drew her bow, taking a close aim at the training dummy's chest. Umi released her grip, sending the arrow flying directly into the center of her target. The arrow lingered for a few seconds before vanishing, a new one replacing it in Kotori's quiver.

    "Sounds easy enough," Nico said, walking up to the second training dummy.

    "You're standing too close," Umi replied. "Try coming back here where I am." Nico looked at Umi strangely, like she had told her to inhale a pickled egg through her nose.

    "Fine," Nico said, stepping back a bit. Her expression changed like a switch had flipped inside her brain, from neutral apathy to a cute little smile. "Nico-Nico-Nii!" she said, doing a cutesy little hop as she fired Maki with one hand. On her other hand, Nico had extended her thumb, index, and pinky fingers. Umi didn't know what the heck that firing technique was supposed to be, but for some reason it worked. Nico had shot the training dummy straight through the head. The shot would have been fatal had it been on an actual human.

    "What? It's my best firing technique," Nico said. Maki audibly sighed.

    "Oh, me next, me next!" Rin exclaimed, running up to the third dummy and swinging Hanayo right into its head. The training dummy's head tore off, stuffing going everywhere. Rin's jaw dropped. "Wow, that's brutal, nya. Kayo-chin, we should probably mentally prepare ourselves for a lot of Kishin blood if we're gonna make you into a Death Scythe."

    "Oh... yay," Hanayo replied, sounding a bit uncomfortable. She returned to human form to look at how much stuffing was expelled. "I've seen blood frequently, but not like this is gonna be." Honoka sailed out of her weapon form and ran over to Rin and Hanayo.

    "Hanayo-chan, Rin-chan, I know you girls can handle it, fight on!" Honoka exclaimed. "Besides, there's a simple trick. Only the meister really has to look at the blood! A weapon can just close their eyes."

    "But I get motion sickness when I do that," Hanayo replied. "Oh dear, what do I do?"

    "Hmm, for a weapon with an aversion to blood," Umi began. "Well, we're all in NOT, so none of us have really encountered the kind of gore EAT students probably have."

    Kotori returned to her human form.

    "I have an idea!" she exclaimed.

 

    The seven girls soon found themselves back in Umi, Honoka, and Kotori's room, in front of a huge whiteboard Kotori was scribbling and writing on. She had written the words "IDEAS TO DESENSITIZE US TO BLOOD BEFORE WE ADVANCE TO EAT" at the top, and made three columns below, labeled "GOOD", "BAD",  and "OH DEAR HEAVENS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU". 

    "I hope nobody suggests something that could be put in the third category," Kotori said, pointing to it for emphasis. 

    "Couldn't you have just combined that with 'bad'?" Maki asked her. "You'd have more space on the board." Kotori started hurriedly erasing and rewriting so that there'd only be two categories now; "GOOD" and "BAD". Everyone began brainstorming, and Umi, being the coach/unofficial leader, decided to step up first.

    "We could watch live-action horror movies," Umi said. Kotori jotted that down on the board. "Those tend to have plenty of gore."

    "I was just about to say that," Nico added.

    "Me too!" Honoka exclaimed. "Either that or some really bloody drama series."

    "We could make fake blood out of corn syrup or whatever they use in movies and put it in the training dummies, nya," Rin suggested. "It is corn syrup, right?"

    "Whatever we do, can we just take it slow at first with only a little blood?" Hanayo asked.

    "Don't worry, Hanayo, we will," Umi said.  _ It wouldn't be good to start with extreme gore from the beginning anyway, that'd be more likely to just increase Hanayo's fear than anything else. Well, and maybe mine as well. _ Umi tried not to show her apprehension, feeling like she had to project the image of a fearless coach for their group.  _ I mean, I can handle seeing a little bit of my own blood if it's from something small, but seeing anyone or anything else bleed isn't something I can fully stomach right now. _

    The group soon split up into three teams; Nico and Maki were going to get the horror movies and dramas, Rin and Hanayo were going to look up how to make fake blood, and Umi, Honoka, and Kotori stayed in their room, writing up regimens for future group training sessions. Umi had created several charts to maximize both the meisters' and the weapons' training efficiency by the time Rin and Hanayo came back, and she couldn't wait to test them out over the next few days.

    "We wrote down some recipes, nya!" Rin exclaimed, flinging open the door.

    "I didn't know there were so many ways to make fake blood," Hanayo added, bringing in a surprisingly large stack of papers. Hanayo handed the stack of papers to Umi, who set them down on her study desk right as Nico and Maki came in with a horror movie tape, an old TV, extension cords, and a VCR. The only word Umi could think at the moment was "wow". Maki set the TV and VCR down on the floor.

    "We got all this for really cheap at a garage sale," she said.

    "Wow, that's amazing!" Honoka exclaimed.

    "But where are we gonna plug it in?" Rin asked. "There isn't a TV outlet in here, nya."

    "And those extension cords don't seem to hook up to the TV," Umi added, comparing the TV's plug to the cords slung around Nico's arm. Nico made a surprised "guhk!" noise. "I'll go and ask Miss Misery if there's anywhere we can hook up a TV here," Umi said.

    "Oh! Oh! I'll come with you!" Honoka exclaimed, following Umi out the door.

 

    Figuring they could find Miss Misery out towards the front of the dorm, Umi and Honoka figured they'd check there first. But Miss Misery was nowhere in sight. Honoka began running around, checking the entire room while Umi just looked around left and right.

    "Umi-chan, our flyer!" Honoka shouted. Umi turned around to find a large sticky note attached to the flyer. Hoping it wasn't a notice telling them to disband, Umi approached it. Thankfully it wasn't. In fact, there really wasn't much written on it at all. Just "μ's."

    "Use?" Honoka asked.

    "No, that's a Greek letter there," Umi replied. "I guess it's pronounced Muse." But one question stood out: what the heck did μ's even mean? Since it was spelled with a Greek letter, Umi's mind immediately drifted to the nine Muses of Greek mythology, even though there were only seven in their group.

    "So I guess we've inspired someone, right?" Honoka asked. "Even after less than a day, we're their muse."

    "That's a lovely way to put it," Umi replied, smiling to herself. "Or maybe... someone was trying to name us. Name us μ's because we're inspiring the other girls to chase their goals together," she said. Honoka's face just lit up with a huge smile.

    "I love it!" Honoka exclaimed. "Okay, starting now, we're μ's!"

    "Shouldn't we see if Kotori and the others like the name first?" Umi asked.

    "Great idea, I'll go right now!" Honoka replied, running back off towards their dorm room. Umi sighed.  _ I guess I'll have to go find Miss Misery on my own, _ she thought, walking off in a different direction. Umi turned a corner into an empty hall. Well, empty save for a purple-haired girl standing right by the door and out of immediate view. Umi didn't notice her at first until she cleared her throat. Umi jumped a bit before turning around. She'd seen this purple-haired girl around the dorms, but she didn't know her name.

    "It's always a good thing for a team to have a name," the girl said. She gave Umi a soft, ethereal-seeming smile, before slipping back off into the front hall. There was no doubt in Umi's mind that the girl was the one responsible for the sticky note. But there was no harm done from it, so she didn't mind.

    "Oh, Miss Sonoda, is there something you'd like?" a voice asked. Umi turned around to see Miss Misery holding a hammer for some reason. Whatever reason it was, she found it best not to question her.

    "Hello, Miss Misery," Umi said. "Is there any place my friends and I can hook up a TV? It's an old model some of us found at a garage sale. Oh, and we also have a VCR."

    "There's already a TV in this room over here, actually, but no VCR," Miss Misery replied, pointing to a door. "I'm pretty sure people are using it right now, there's usually someone in there."

    "I see, thank you for telling me," Umi said, turning back to her dorm room to relay the news to her friends.

 

    "Umi-chan, everyone likes 'μ's' for our group name!" Honoka exclaimed immediately upon Umi's entry.

    "That's great!" Umi replied. "Miss Misery says there's already a common room with a TV in it, but there isn't a VCR on it."

    "Good thing we have a VCR then," Kotori said.

    "What?" Nico asked. "Now what am I gonna do with this old TV here?"

    "We could sell it at the Death Bazaar," Maki replied. "I think it's in two or three weeks, but I'm not entirely sure."

    "You guys are getting off-topic, nya," Rin said. "We have to go hook the VCR up to that TV in there!"

    "Wait, Rin! Miss Misery also said there might be someone already using the TV room," Umi said.

    "Yeah, we don't wanna bother anyone... and she's gone. With the VCR," Hanayo added, watching Rin dash right out of there. Hanayo sighed, and walked out to catch up with her meister. The others followed her, Umi leading the way.

 

    And as Miss Misery said, the room was occupied. The girls who were in the room let Rin hook up the VCR once their program was over, but it took until late at night for μ's to have the room all to themselves. Umi warned her against watching a horror movie at night, but Honoka wouldn't listen, instead getting the other girls out of bed to sneak off down to the TV room. Umi tried not to show it, but in truth, she was incredibly scared watch a horror movie right before bed. The groggy, half-asleep members of μ's all gathered around the TV as Honoka put the video tape in. And the credits played.

    "Did I miss it?" Nico asked, nearly flopping over on Maki's shoulder. "Did I doze off?"

    "Get off me," Maki replied, half-heartedly pushing Nico off. "I think whoever we bought that from didn't rewind the tape."

    Nico, Rin, and Kotori groaned.

    "Who has the remote?" Honoka sighed.

    "Kayo-chin does," Rin replied, yawning.

    "Which one's Kayo-chan?" Honoka asked.

    "I am," Hanayo replied, hitting the rewind button to full speed.

    "I thought your name was Hanayo," Honoka said. Hanayo covered her eyes as to not see the movie as it rewound. Umi did the same.

    "It is, Rin-chan just calls me Kayo-chin as a nickname," Hanayo replied. "Only she's allowed to do it."

    "I'm so tired," Honoka said, sitting down between Umi and Kotori. They all waited a little while for the movie to rewind. "It's on."

    Hanayo hit the PLAY button on the remote, and she and Umi uncovered their eyes. The movie opened with a shot of the grinning crescent moon in the sky, before panning down to a white suburban family of four driving down a highway in the middle of nowhere. They started babbling on about how this was going to be a great family vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin in the woods. Umi could definitely tell from the audio quality that the movie had to be several decades old.  _ Thank goodness it's old and cheesy, _ she thought. 

    "Okay, whoever screams first has to explain to Miss Misery why we're all up this late," Honoka almost whispered, as the title of the movie displayed across the screen. "The Cabin."  _ Maybe this wouldn't be too bad for a horror movie that we're watching at this ungodly hour, _ Umi thought.

 

    Umi continued to think that when the family arrived at the cabin, even when Grandma and Grandpa were discovered to have been missing since before the rest of the family even planned their trip.  _ Okay, Umi, this is an easily predictable plot twist. They're either dead or the monster. Or both. Is this one of those undead horror movies? _

    "Why don't they check the cellar?" Maki asked.

    "Cuz that's how people die in these type of movies, nya," Rin replied. "And the mom is going into the cellar."

    "Gosh darn it," Kotori said. "We're not even twenty minutes in and already someone's gonna die." Umi reached over for a throw pillow and curled up her legs.  _ Please don't die, mom lady, _ she thought, shivering a bit. The mother opened the cellar door, before her husband said he could do this on his own. He jumped down into the cellar, his wife and children telling him to be careful, which raised a major death flag. Umi held the pillow tightly against her head, mentally preparing herself for the inevitable sound of a man screaming in mortal pain and terror. She could barely keep her eyes on the screen.  _ Focus, Umi, you're doing this for Hanayo. And yourself. Even though arrows aren't gonna cause nearly as much gore as what's in a horror movie, plus anything killed by a Demon Weapon or anything else supernatural immediately vanishes, leaving only its soul... so why am I watching this? _

    The movie cut to the scared family standing at the cellar door as they heard the father's scream. Umi heard the remote clatter to the floor, which made her jolt harder than the movie did. Hanayo had clung onto Rin in fear, and was looking away from the screen. If Umi wasn't awake before, she sure was now.

    "Kayo-chin, you have to look," Rin said, as the father began to emerge from the cellar door, two hands grabbing his ankles. He begged for his wife to get the shotgun from their car, saying she had to save him. And he lost his grip and collapsed onto the cellar floor. The shot changed to a closeup of his attackers. They looked to be the missing grandmother and grandfather, covered in incredibly cheesy gore makeup. Honoka looked like she was going to burst out laughing.  _ Called it, _ Umi thought, as the shot cut to the blank cellar wall, before a little bit of"blood" splattered all over it. 

    "They already killed the dad?" Nico asked, picking up the video tape. "Oh, this movie's only a little over an hour, no wonder they're killing so early."

    "Shh!" Maki said. One of the two little boys innocently asked if his grandma and grandpa were down there and his father had screamed in excitement upon finding them. His mother ushered him and his brother back to where the car was supposed to be parked, but it was gone for some reason. The family decided that their only choice was to go into the cabin and wait for the father to come out of the cellar. Umi almost wanted to scream into the pillow at how horrible that decision was. Cue thirty minutes straight of the mom and her two children narrowly escaping several scares from the either undead or possessed grandparents, the narrative didn't say. The acting in this part was so corny and cheesy, that most of μ's began to calm down, Kotori even fell asleep. And then one of the boys, the older one, went down to check the cellar. His death was offscreen, via a shot of his mother holding his brother in fear, the only sound being the older boy's final screams.

    "I don't think this one is actually gonna help with the blood aversions. It's not that gory," Maki said. "No wonder we got it for only a dollar."

    "Yeah, this... this isn't actually scary," Umi added, right as one of the grandparents popped up in front of the mother and her son and snatched the son into the chimney, the fire drowning out his final screams.  _ And now a child just burned to death. I spoke too soon. _ The mother pleaded with the grandparent ghosts/monsters/the narrative still hasn't explained what, trying to spare her life and begging for her family to return. Then came a forced tearjerker flashback montage of the family growing up until this fateful day, where it cut back to the mother sobbing in the faces of her family's murderers. And for some reason, one of the monsters reached "into" the mother's chest (its hand was clearly visible from behind her armpit) and pulled out an incredibly fake-looking heart. The mother collapsed onto the floor, and her body vanished, leaving only her soul. One of the monsters ate her heart, and the other ate her soul. And for some reason that brought her family and car back. But she wasn't there.  _ Wait... so she sacrificed herself for her family? _ Umi thought, noticing the other three begin to drive away from the cabin.

    "They're not even gonna look for her to see if she's alive?" Hanayo asked, as the car went into a ditch. Three monsters then jumped out at the screen, the grandparents and the mother. The screen went black, and the father and two sons screamed. Then the credits rolled. μ's stared at the screen in disbelief.

 

    "That was so stupid," Honoka groaned.

    "Tomorrow we're gonna do target practice on that tape," Umi said, hoping everyone would take it as 'Umi hated it too', not 'Umi actually thought it was scary'. "Let's get to bed before Miss Misery notices we're up."

    "Hang on, we should wake Kotori first," Nico added, nudging Kotori awake.

    Kotori yawned. "Is it over?" she asked. Nico nodded. The members of μ's slowly got up from where they were sitting, and ejected the tape. Umi took it so she could prime it for target practice, and Honoka led the way to get everyone back to their rooms. Thankfully, nobody was caught by Miss Misery, and they were all back in their beds in no time at all. Umi pulled her covers up to her shoulders, closed her eyes, and prepared to drift off into sleep.  _ The movie wasn't scary, you can sleep, _ she thought to herself.  _ The movie wasn't scary, you can sleep. Don't open your eyes, because they might be watching you. No, they're not. It's not real. _ Umi lay awake for another ten minutes, just staring at the ceiling.  _ I hope that watching a horror movie this late is gonna be our only bad decision, _ she thought, as she closed her eyes, hoping this time, she'd sleep.

  
    The next morning, Umi personally shot that tape into smithereens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The horror movie is a parody that I thought up myself on the spot as I was writing this. Any resemblance of title or content to any actual horror movies is entirely coincidental.


	7. Nozomi and Eli’s first mission!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the names of the Kishin Eggs μ's will end up facing in this fic were taken from lists of popular names in the region they're from and are not references to anything. Oh, and I've kinda incorporated some headcanons I have with witch genetics in this chapter in regards to Nozomi

     Nozomi and Eli looked at the mission board together, eyes darting from posting to posting. Whichever one they would pick would be their first mission. And if they succeeded, Nozomi's first Kishin egg. And then after that, ninety-eight more to go, and then the witch's soul. Then Nozomi would become a Death Scythe. But she was thinking too far ahead, most students never got to that point while they were still in school. She knew Eli would take her to that level if she could. Eli was a strong meister, her combat skills and Soul Perception being on the highest level in the class when she and Nozomi were NOT students. But those abilities developed over two years of NOT study turned out to be average in terms of the girls' class once they advanced to EAT.  _ This mission could perk Eli up, especially when we succeed, _ Nozomi thought, looking at Eli's decisive and beautiful eyes.

    "What about this one?" Eli asked.  _ Eastern European village seeks aid in defeating Kishin egg Dominika (last name unknown) spawned from a serial murderer. _ "I know it says 'serial murderer' but pretty much all of them say that."

    "Well of course they would, Elicchi," Nozomi replied. "Considering the ways people become Kishin eggs, it's only be natural this would be one of the most frequent crimes."

    "I suppose so," Eli said. "So, Nozomi, should we take it?"

    "You're the meister, you should be the one who decides," Nozomi replied."But I have a good feeling about this one."

 

    Nozomi and Eli ended up taking the mission and were soon on their way to the Eastern European village. Or whatever was left of it. There were no people or domesticated animals in the streets, windows were broken in much of the buildings, and despite it being dusk when Nozomi and Eli arrived, there was no light on in what was left. And there was an eerie quiet throughout. Nozomi got a horrible aura from this place, giving her awful chills. She wished she brought her cards. The cards would have told her everything, but for now she had to rely on Eli's method: good old-fashioned investigation.

    "What happened here? It looks abandoned," Eli said, holding on to Nozomi's hand. Nozomi was sure this was a normal gesture between partners, between friends, but lately it's been causing her face to get all hot and her palms to become sweaty. She really wished she had brought her cards to tell her what the heck this new feeling was, or at least confirm the idea she already had about it.

    "Ah ha ha, yeah," Nozomi added. "I sense something's definitely up."  _ Regain your composure, Nozomi, this is serious! _

    "Spiritual intuition?" Eli asked.

    "Yup, as usual," Nozomi replied. Eli scanned the area a bit more to look for the Kishin egg.

    "You never told me where you got that from," Eli said. "Is it similar to my Soul Perception?"

    "I think it's something leftover from way back in the family," Nozomi replied. "Don't tell anyone, but one of my ancestors from many generations ago was a witch. Ever since her generation, the Tojo women have all been a LOT more attuned with nature, fate, divination, and in my case especially, spiritual auras. Ah, but I'm not a witch myself, that gene must've not gotten that far through the family since it's recessive like the weapon gene. But unlike being a weapon, the witch gene doesn't tend to skip generations."

    "I think your purple hair's proof enough of that kind of ancestry, especially since I know it's natural," Eli said, eyeing Nozomi's fluffy low ponytails.

    "Yeah, but that's the only physical sign left from her," Nozomi said. "Now the most mystical member of the Tojo family is me, the Spiritual Demon Weapon."

    Eli laughed, and it sounded like the ringing of heavenly bells. Nozomi hoped the twilight hid the blush on her cheeks.

    "Come on, let's search for any remaining villagers before the Kishin egg returns," Eli replied. She and Nozomi walked over to the first house. Nozomi immediately got a terrible vibe from this place. Eli knocked at the door, and there was no answer. So she tried the door, which pushed right open due to a damaged lock. It was near-completely dark inside, and eerily quiet. The last bit of sunlight reflected off broken glass on the floor, and there appeared to be a few puddles of some kind of dark-looking liquid towards the back corner, by another door which was left ajar.

    "She's been here," Nozomi said.

    "Did you see the liquid?" Eli asked, turning on a flashlight. "That might be blood."

    Nozomi walked over to the strange puddles, and touched the liquid, smearing it on two fingers and her thumb. It was red. Blood red. Nozomi looked up into the next room and saw a LOT more blood on the floor, but no corpse or soul anywhere in sight. The Kishin egg had definitely been here, and whatever method of killing she used wasn't normal if the victim's corpse had just vanished like that.  _ If she has abilities like that, what could  she... no, no, no, you can't think about that, _ Nozomi thought, hearing footsteps behind her.

    "Nozomi! What is it, you look like you've seen a-" Eli began, before turning to look at what Nozomi saw. She gasped in horror, before taking a few steps into the room. Eli shined her flashlight around, revealing not only the copious amounts of haphazardly splattered blood, but a broken window at the back of the room.

    "I don't think I'd be able to fit through that," Nozomi said, looking at the hole. This Kishin egg had to be extraordinarily skinny. Even the slender Eli wouldn't be able to get through that hole without having to smash the window further.

    "Don't worry, Nozomi, we'll go around," Eli replied. 

 

    They both went back out of the house to the other side of the escape window. There didn't seem to be an obvious lead to further the chase from here, just a sea of grass and hay bales on the other side of a fence from an adjacent farm. But then Nozomi saw a figure run off from behind one of the hay bales.

    "Elicchi!" Nozomi exclaimed, pointing this out.

    "I see it, come on!" Eli replied, clearing the fence and running off towards the hay. Nozomi stepped up on the first horizontal wooden bar.  _ This fence is old, _ she thought, cautiously climbing up to the second and top bar.  _ Please don't break. _ Nozomi climbed over and touched down on the other side without even a splinter. She sighed with relief, and went off to follow Eli. She was able to keep up with Eli thanks to two years of stamina training, so her head start didn't matter much. So now all that was left was to catch up to the strange figure off in the distance. Which by the time Nozomi and Eli got in the midst of all the hay bales, it had vanished.

    "Huh?" Nozomi and Eli both gasped.

    "It can't have gone far," Eli said, looking at a pile of stacked hay bales, which she began to climb. Once she got up the first one, she turned to look back at Nozomi. "Need a boost? The view will be better from up here," Eli said.

    "Sure," Nozomi replied, reaching out her hand to Eli's. Eli boosted her up to the first hay bale, before climbing the second. Then boosting Nozomi up, then climbing the third. Boost, climb. Boost, climb. The rough texture scratched at Nozomi's ankles, and she realized the bales were straw, not hay. Once Nozomi got to the top, she checked her legs to see if they were bleeding. And thankfully there wasn't any blood. But her tights were torn, there were little rips all over to the point where they were ruined.  _ At least I didn't wear my good thigh highs, _ Nozomi thought to herself. She pondered slipping off the torn-up tights, but decided she could bear with it for the time being.

    "Do you see anyone?" Eli asked.

    "No, just the two of us and the last of a beautiful sunset," Nozomi replied. The sun's laughter died down as it fell below the horizon, its last bit of light fading away for the night. "Ah, it's gone."

    "And my flashlight doesn't reach out that far," Eli added. "Being up here's just made it worse," she sighed, lowering her flashlight back down to her and Nozomi's legs. There was a tiny cut on Eli's left shin, oozing a tiny bit of blood. Eli firmly grasped it, hoping pressure would stop the tiny bit of bleeding. "Are there even any villagers left? Or have they all just evacuated or died?" she asked herself. 

    "Let's hope it's the former," Nozomi replied, putting a hand on Eli's shoulder. She could feel Eli trembling a bit. Normally Eli's nervous side would be kinda cute, but Nozomi remembered Eli was still afraid of the dark. It was something Eli only entrusted Nozomi to know, because at her age she shouldn't still fear the dark. Eli clutched onto her flashlight even harder than before.

    "We'll have to go back down, won't we?" she asked, putting the flashlight in her mouth as she carefully climbed back down the pile of straw bales. Nozomi just jumped down from bale to bale until she got back down to the ground. Eli took the flashlight out of her mouth and wiped the spit off on her shirt.

    "Elicchi, if you're scared you can hold my hand," Nozomi said, adopting a teasing tone as to lighten the mood. Without hesitation, Eli grabbed onto Nozomi's hand, and the two began searching the grassy farmland. Look left, nothing but grass. Look right, nothing but grass. Maybe a stack of hay (or straw) bales here and there, but nothing else. Except bugs. Bugs kept landing on Nozomi and Eli. On their clothes, on their arms, in their hair. It was kind of annoying, but the bugs were probably attracted to the light from Eli's flashlight, and there was no chance of turning that off. Except if the battery died. Which it shouldn't, since Eli had just replaced the battery not too long ago.

    "Okay, only transform when we find her," Eli said.  _ Aw, she doesn't want to walk around alone in the dark. _ "Even if it's safer to already-"

    Eli was cut off by the sound of rustling through the grass. She and Nozomi's hearts both leapt out of their chests. Eli practically whipped the flashlight over to where the rustling came from.

    "What was that?" Nozomi asked.

    "It's... just a roe deer," Eli replied, a relatively small doe staring at the light before running back off. "Thank goodness," she said. Relieved, Nozomi and Eli kept walking through the grass.  _ I wonder what that little doe was doing over here? _ Nozomi thought to herself.  _ Maybe she wanted the grass? Roe deer eat grass, right? _ All Nozomi really knew about the species was that it could be found in this area, it was called a roe deer, what it looked like, and that like most deer, it's not usually a threat. Oh, and that it was a really cute little deer. But she had to focus on finding the Kishin egg, that deer was no longer relevant.

    "Dominika!" Nozomi called out.

    "What are you doing?" Eli asked.

    "The sooner we find her, the sooner we take her down," Nozomi replied. "I'm just seeing if she answers to her name."

    A few seconds of silence, and a swelling uncomfortable feeling.

    "Either she's out of earshot or she doesn't."

    "Nozomi, are you not getting any bad vibes from this?" Eli asked.

    "No, they're through the roof," Nozomi replied. Eli took a deep breath, sighed, and closed her eyes.  _ Oh, she's using her Soul Perception. Well, I have a sixth sense too. _ Nozomi tried to (consciously) tap into her spiritual power. It usually wasn't a conscious thing, and unlike Eli, she couldn't really see the souls. She could just feel things about them and the surrounding areas. Nozomi caught a horrible discomfort throughout her, causing her heart rate to speed up. Fear, she was sensing an aura of fear. And it was really strong, so whatever caused this had to be nearby. Nozomi opened her eyes a bit, and saw the flashlight beam ahead of her shaking.  _ Oh, it's just Elicchi. No wonder that fear energy was so strong, we're literally holding hands. Maybe she's accidentally messing with my powers. But I don't want to let go of her. Besides, Elicchi's Soul Perception would be a lot more useful in finding the Kishin egg. _

    "I see her," Eli said, proving Nozomi's thought. "This way!"

    Eli had practically yanked Nozomi's hand along with her as she ran off in the same direction she and Nozomi were already going in. Nozomi could feel another strong, urgent feeling in her gut, deducing that Eli must have suddenly become more determined upon seeing the Kishin egg's scarlet soul through her sixth sense. The rhythm of footsteps hitting the grassy ground in fours, they kept pushing on until Eli suddenly stopped in an area with a whole lot of round hay bales, many more than there were rectangular straw ones on the other side of the field.

    "She's here, Nozomi," Eli said.

    "Got it," Nozomi replied, letting go of Eli's hand. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest and began to glow purple. Eli held her hand out as Nozomi glowed brighter and brighter until her body was nearly a white light, before Nozomi changed form to a traditional sword. Eli gripped onto the hilt and held Nozomi in a defensive position. Nozomi appeared as a reflection on the blade to scope things out.

    "Kishin egg Dominika, show yourself at once!" Eli shouted. "We are Eli Ayase and Nozomi Tojo, sent from DWMA in response to your heinous crimes, and we will not end our pursuit until your soul is claimed as payment for them."

    "This isn't the speech you were rehearsing under your breath for half the flight here," Nozomi said.

    "Don't tease me," Eli muttered in reply, blushing. She heard a demented cackling, sounding vaguely like a woman's laughter but too far gone to even be human anymore. Eli smirked. "She's coming."

    Eli put the flashlight in her mouth again so she could have a free hand for whatever use she could. Right as a tall and rail-thin figure leapt out from behind one of the hay bales. Eli turned her head towards where she heard it jump out from, hoping to shed some light on it. The flashlight revealed what was definitely the Kishin egg Dominika, with her long, flowing white hair, sunken eyes, and hands with bright blue fingers. Her long nails glowed with a matching blue flame. Nozomi could immediately tell those flames were supernatural in origin, but not full-on witch's magic. Perhaps they were an effect of madness. But whatever they were, Eli knew to watch out for them immediately, dodging the Kishin egg's first strike. Her flaming nails hit the hay bale behind Eli, causing it to combust. Eli attacked, swinging Nozomi's blade right at the Kishin egg's chest. The Kishin egg  pulled a lucky dodge, and Nozomi hit the flaming hay bale. The fire briefly seared her blade, but she could brace through it. Eli yanked Nozomi out of the bale just as quickly as she was stuck in, but the Kishin egg was nowhere to be found.

    "Wah, disha ahready eshape?" Eli asked.  _ Take the flashlight out of your mouth, Elicchi. _

    "Coward!" Nozomi shouted. "Wait, Elicchi, look up!"

    Eli immediately looked up to see the Kishin egg standing atop the burning hay bale. She's resistant to fire, Nozomi thought, knowing that eliminated a possibility for defeat. Ah well, it's not like Elicchi would have tried to burn her to death anyway. The Kishin egg jumped down at Eli, nails pointed directly at her. This time it was Eli who had the lucky dodge, and the Kishin egg's nails stuck into the ground.

    "I guess this was over quicker than I thought," Nozomi said.

    "I agree. Ish tam to fi-ish this," Eli replied, holding Nozomi up, preparing to plunge her blade into the Kishin egg's back. The grass began to light up around her nails in little blue flames, as she yanked her hands out of the ground and swung them upward. Eli used Nozomi to block any direct hits, but her flashlight was knocked out of her mouth. The Kishin egg got up, and smashed the flashlight with a hard stomp. Crap, she's strong, Nozomi thought. The only light on the scene came from the blue-burning hay bale and the Kishin egg's hands, which swung out again to try and slash Eli. Eli blocked slash, after slash, after slash with Nozomi's blade.

    "Is this hurting you?" she asked.

    "No, I'm fine, it just feels like a warm little doink," Nozomi replied. And the little clinking noises were satisfying to hear, but she didn't tell Eli that. Her thin blade wasn't much of a good shield though, but she was glad to do whatever she could to protect Eli. Her Elicchi.

    "Take this!" Eli shouted, swinging Nozomi right into the Kishin egg's arm. Nozomi could feel the side of her blade piercing her skin. It was an odd sensation, unlike anything Nozomi had ever felt before. And she disliked it. It wasn't fun. the Kishin egg cried out in a horrifying screech, with Eli wincing at the piercing noise. Nozomi covered her ears in her soul space, as the Kishin egg retreated back, scarlet blood dripping out from her wound and onto the ground below. Eli swung Nozomi out at the Kishin egg again, slicing across the palm of her hand, which she used as a flimsy attempt at a block. Nozomi could hear Eli muttering something about trying not to think about the Kishin egg as anything close to human, possibly to ease herself about making her first kill. And Eli made another strike, but the Kishin egg swung her leg out to trip her before running off into the night. Nozomi immediately left her weapon form to catch Eli, knowing full well Eli would have been burned from either the ground or the bale. Nozomi held on to Eli for a bit, steadying her stance so she wouldn't slip and fall into the bale, which would burn them both.

    "Argh, shouldn't have let my guard down... Nozomi?" Eli asked, looking up at Nozomi. The blue fire behind them reflected beautifully in Eli's matching eyes, a sight Nozomi wanted to burn into her brain, no pun intended.

    "We're safe, we're safe," Nozomi stammered, letting Eli get back up to her feet.

    "Thank you, Nozomi," Eli said, before looking at the flashlight's crushed remains. "Oh no, my flashlight."

    "At least the Kishin egg's nails are a walking light source, and you've got your Soul Perception," Nozomi replied, trying to reassure Eli.

    "Ah, yeah," Eli said, a little tremble in her voice. She took Nozomi's hand. "Did you see which way she ran off to?"

    "Yeah, she went off towards those woods," Nozomi replied. Eli gulped.

    "Then I guess we should go," she said, grasping Nozomi's hand tighter.

 

    Nozomi and Eli moved a lot slower on their trail in darkness like this. The stars looked brilliant and beautiful tonight, showing just how little light was around in a country ghost town such as this. No, you couldn't get this back home with all the city lights drowning them out. Nozomi swore she felt a positive spiritual energy from the stars tonight, balancing the fearful aura she got from Eli in the dark. Balance was an ideal when there should be overwhelmingly negative auras around, with a Kishin egg and a fearful close friend. Except for when you had to search for the former. Thankfully Eli could use her Soul Perception, and since Dominika was the only Kishin egg around for miles, it wouldn't be too hard for Eli to spot her. Nozomi just had to keep up her faith.

    "She's not in the woods, thank goodness," Eli said. "She seems to be by another soul, an animal soul."

    "The little roe deer we saw earlier!" Nozomi exclaimed. "She could be in trouble!"

    Eli immediately understood what Nozomi meant.

    "Wait, I see Dominika's nails!" Eli said. "Nozomi, transform again!"

    "Okay!" Nozomi replied, transforming into a sword again. Eli grasped her hilt and charged towards the glowing nails. The little roe deer from earlier was there, and it dashed away upon seeing and hearing Eli. The Kishin egg looked over at Eli and Nozomi, and prepared to strike at them. Her still-bloodied hand hit right onto Nozomi's blade, catching onto it. The blood began to drip down, but Eli swung Nozomi aside to shake her off.

    "You knew I was going to have to finish this eventually," Eli said, swinging for another attempt at a fatal strike, this time to the Kishin egg's neck. The Kishin egg tried to block the hit with her arm and ended up losing a hand. Once her hand fell to the ground, the fire from its fingernails went out. The Kishin egg then kicked Eli in the face and  immediately jumped into some tall grass, setting it ablaze around her. Eli took a few steps back in caution. The fire wasn't spreading, it seemed the Kishin egg was controlling it and keeping it in check to create a barrier that Eli couldn't get into. 

    "She's trying to make us let our guard down," Eli said. "But we've got a few tricks up our sleeve as well."

    "Soul Resonance!" Nozomi and Eli shouted. Nozomi could feel Eli's wavelength intertwine with hers. She could feel how Eli felt, a shaky mix of fear and fighting adrenaline. And Eli would be able to see what Nozomi was feeling, too, which seemed even stronger right now. This thought for some reason gave Nozomi butterflies. Why? Why did it do that? Sure she'd been feeling those feelings around Eli for a while, and Eli might have picked up on them before with resonance practice, no, she couldn't think about that now. She had to focus to keep her resonance form in optimal condition. Getting too worked up could mess it up.

    Nozomi's blade tripled in size and began to glow a soft blue-violet. Eli knew what she had to do now.

    "Spiritual Cutter!" Nozomi and Eli shouted, Eli swinging Nozomi right into the flaming grass. Nozomi could feel the grass on her blade, but not the Kishin egg's flesh.

    "Huh? Don't tell me she escaped again," Nozomi said. She heard a twig snap behind her. "Elicchi, look out!" she instinctively shouted. Eli turned around as fast as a whip, and there stood the Kishin egg right in front of her, ready to strike. Eli tried to block it, but the Kishin egg was a lot craftier this time, clutching onto Eli's sword-holding wrist with her one remaining hand. Nozomi could feel Eli's pain as the flaming nails brushed against her skin. Eli winced, trying to bear it, as the Kishin egg held up her handless arm before realizing again that there was no hand there. Eli took advantage of this moment of confusion and forced Nozomi's blade right through her side, cutting her right in half. Before either half could hit the ground, they both vanished into black smoky ribbons, leaving behind a scarlet soul. Nozomi left weapon form, but didn't attend to the soul immediately.

    "Elicchi, is your hand okay?" she asked in a panic.

    "My face is fine, and her nails barely got me," Eli replied, rubbing her jaw. Nozomi sighed with relief and walked up to the soul. The Kishin egg's soul. Dominika's soul. Nozomi cupped it in her hands. "I guess all that practice these past two years has paid off, hasn't it, Nozomi?"

    Nozomi opened her mouth as wide as she could and shoved the soul in. Swallowing it whole was a lot harder than she thought it would be, but it went down easy enough for something the size of a grapefruit. One down, ninety-eight to go.

    "Yeah, I can't believe we did it," Nozomi replied. She paused for a second, feeling some kind of lump in her throat. It wasn't the soul she just ate, or anything else remotely close to physical. Nozomi gulped, figuring she should just go ahead and say it. "Elicchi, did you feel anything strange while we were resonating?"

    "What do you mean? I felt the exact same stuff you did," Eli replied. Nozomi's heart leapt out of her chest. Did Eli just mean she empathized with Nozomi? Or wait... could it mean her feelings were truly the same? And that she got the same fluttery feeling around Nozomi that Nozomi got around her?

    "Really?" Nozomi asked. "Because I was unsure what exactly that feeling was, I mean, it could be love, or it could be something else, like indigestion..."

    Eli laughed, and walked up to Nozomi. Nozomi turned around to face her.

    "I don't think it's indigestion," Eli said.

    "Yeah, that was a joke," Nozomi replied. "I'm pretty sure it's closer to a crush."

    Nozomi took both of Eli's hands, and looked up to her eyes.

    "When did you realize it?" Eli asked.

    "Well, I've been feeling like this for a while, at least a few months, but only just a few days ago was when it really set in," Nozomi replied. "You?"

    "Me? I thought you were a beautiful and captivating person from the beginning, so I guess it developed slowly over time, to the point where I barely noticed until it was too intense to ignore," Eli said. "I think I might be in love with you, Nozomi."

    "And I think I might be in love with you too, Elicchi," Nozomi replied. How could she have felt nervous and relieved at the same time to say that? But whichever it was, she wouldn't trade that feeling for the world. She let go of Eli's hands only to hug her, no, embrace her as tightly as she could.

    "Nozomi, would you be not only my partner in combat, but my partner in another sense as well?" Eli asked. "My girlfriend?"

    "Yes, Elicchi, yes!" Nozomi exclaimed in reply, pulling off from the hug to kiss Eli. The kiss felt like fireworks, like everything Nozomi had ever hoped for. She knew right then that what she felt for Eli really was love. The fates had brought them together two years ago to become meister and weapon for a reason and this was it. Nozomi Tojo and Eli Ayase must have been soulmates, destined to meet at some point and forge an unbreakable bond, however that bond would take form. It had to be the reason. Fate and destiny, after all, were powerful and mysterious forces nobody would ever understand.  But whether it was fate, chance, choice, or anything else, Nozomi was glad she met Eli. And she wouldn't trade whatever force granted her that meeting for the world.

  
  



	8. Death Fest!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (a/n: The narration doesn't call the people Shaula Gorgon brainwashed "Traitors" because μ's does not know that they're called that)

 

    Halloween night. Hanayo wanted to spend it trick-or-treating with Rin again (they weren't too old, she swears. She'd do it until more doors are slammed in her face than not) but Nico had convinced everyone in μ's to go to the Death Fest together to see her former classmates compete for the first time. Umi, Honoka, Kotori, and maybe Maki were going to go anyway, so it was really only Rin and Hanayo who were dragged. It was still daylight out when the Death Fest officially began, so Rin told Hanayo they could bide their time here until either these former classmates of Nico's were eliminated, or until sundown, where Rin planned to fake a stomachache as an excuse for her and Hanayo to return to the dorms, get changed, and head out for candy.

    "Okay, Nozomi and Eli's first fight will be here by the nurse's station in just a few minutes," Nico said.  _ Well, looks like Rin-chan can't fake the stomachache unless we move from here. _ "And they're gonna need one of my famous Nico-Nico smiles to give them some Nico-Nico cheer. Heck, not just one, but all seven of us should deliver our best smiles in support! So let's practice!"

    "Right now?" Umi asked. "Wait if we have to practice, that means..."

    "Dong that here?" Hanayo added. "But wouldn't that be embarrassing?"

    "Says the teenager who wanted to go trick-or-treating later tonight," Maki replied.

    "I went last year and nobody shunned me for my age," Honoka said. "Hanayo-chan and Rin-chan could definitely pull off going."

    "Hey, Honoka-chan, if we have time should we join them?" Kotori asked. "Make it a μ's thing this year."

    "Kotori, we're too old," Umi said.

    "Girls, stop ignoring me," Nico whined.

    "I agree with Umi," Maki said. "Trick-or-treating's for little kids. Not like I'd enjoy doing something like that at my age anyway, so don't ask me about it!"

    "Then we'll go as μ's minus the two party-poopers, nya," Rin replied. Hanayo beamed. This would be the first time she would be getting to go with so many friends. Usually it was just her and Rin.

    "Nico-chan, you can easily fake being a little kid, so you can be in front to really sell it," Honoka said.

    "I'm the oldest one out of all of us!" Nico exclaimed.

    "Fine, I guess I'll go if Nico's going," Maki said. "But it's not like I wanted to, you guys pushed me, it was peer pressure."

    "Umi-chan..." Kotori began. Umi's eyes widened. Hanayo didn't know what Kotori was about to pull to get Umi to go, but as she saw Kotori's lower lip quiver and her hand curl in front of her chest, maybe there'd be peer pressure happening after all. "Please!" Kotori begged, her hair fluffing out along with the pleading expression in her eyes. This technique hit Umi right on the bulls-eye, and she caved.

    "Well, maybe I can do it for one last year," Umi said. Kotori and Honoka cheered.  _ Who would've thought Kotori-chan had it in her to do something like that? _ Hanayo thought, amazed at how much power Kotori held.

    "Okay, back to what I was  _ originally talking about _ ," Nico interjected. "I wanna see you girls practice your best and brightest smiles."

    "Well, I guess we've stalled her for long enough," Maki said, smirking.

    "Okay everyone, repeat after me," Nico said. "Nico-Nico-Nii! I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart! Fight on for your dear friend Nico-Nii, who believes in the deepest, deepest parts of her heart that you can win it all, Nico!" Nobody wanted to copy that word for word. It was like Nico had no sense of shame in her cutesy mode. "Okay, judging by the looks on your faces, maybe that was too much at once. We'll go bit by bit, okay?"

    "Okay!" Honoka shouted. Maki groaned.

    "Nico-Nico-Nii!" Nico said, doing her trademark accompanying hand gestures along with it.

    "Nico-Nico-Nii!" the rest of μ's repeated.

    "I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart!" Nico said, forming a heart with her hands in front of her chest.

    "I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart!" all of μ's except Umi and Maki repeated. People started staring.

    "Fight on for your dear friend Nico-Nii," Nico continued, balling her hands into fists and holding them up in the air.

    "Fight on for your dear friend Nico-Nii," Honoka and Hanayo repeated.

    "...who believes in the deepest, deepest parts of her heart that you can win it all, Nico!" Nico continued, putting her hands on her heart and ending with a head tilt and smile..

    "...who believes in the deepest, deepest parts of her heart that you can win it all, Nico!" Hanayo repeated. Nico's face turned sour.

    "Why's Hanayo the only one who did the whole thing?" Nico asked.

    "Because it's embarrassing," Maki replied. "Nico, we're in public."

    Nico looked around at the huge crowd around her, before shrugging Maki off and muttering her cheer to herself.  _ Don't worry, Nico-chan, I'll at least make sure you're not alone, _ Hanayo thought to herself as four EAT students approached the area. The crowd began to disperse, giving the students space. The students split up into two pairs, one pair consisting of two elegant-looking girls, and the other pair, a normal-looking boy and girl who seemed to be brother and sister.

    "Eli! Nozomi!" Nico shouted, the elegant-looking girls glancing over at her. The taller blonde gave her a slight wave, while the chubby one with purple pigtails waved much more visibly and with a brighter smile.  _ Those girls must be Eli and Nozomi. I've seen them talking to Maki-chan and Nico-chan around the dorms, but I've never actually talked to them myself. _

    "Kayo-chin, look!" Rin exclaimed, touching Hanayo's shoulder to get her attention. "Here comes a teacher, looks like the match is about to begin."

 

    "Okay, fighters, take a few steps back so you're equal distance from me," the teacher said. Nozomi, Eli, and the other two took a few steps back. "Weapons, on your mark!"

    "Nozomi, transform!" Eli exclaimed.

    "Let's go, sis!" the boy added.  _ Oh, they are brother and sister, _ Hanayo thought, watching Nozomi and the girl transform into their weapon forms. Both were swords.

    "Two swords," Umi muttered. "They seem to be matching pairs based on similar weapon types in this round."

    "Okay everyone, just like we practiced..." Nico said. "Nico-Nico-Nii..."

    "Let the Death Fest begin!" the teacher yelled, drowning Nico out with both her words and a starter pistol. 

    The boy immediately went for the first strike, lunging at Eli. She dodged him, swinging Nozomi out in front of her in a swooping motion. The boy lunged at her again. It seemed he didn't want to vary his attacks, so Eli swung Nozomi back out at him in an attempt to disarm. His grip was strong, so the clashing of blades didn't immediately knock his sister away. He and Eli locked blades, each meister pushing so that they would have the upper hand. Eli seemed closer to outmatching the boy at first, but he pushed back, attempting to kick her back. Eli jumped back to dodge the kick, forfeiting the blade lock to avoid her stomach being hit.

    "What's the matter? Afraid of a little close combat?" the girl asked from her blade reflection.

    "Really? Seems like your meister is," Nozomi replied, as Eli ran up to the boy, clashing blades for a few hits. "After all, he's the one trying to use dirty tricks."

    "I'll show you a dirty trick!" the boy shouted, running up to Eli and trying to kick Nozomi out of her hand. Eli blocked the kick with the flat end of Nozomi's blade, pushing her wrist back just enough to fling the boy back onto his rear. He dropped his blade, and Eli walked up to him before he could reach it, pointing Nozomi's tip at his throat. The boy sighed, and reached out a hand for Eli to help him up.

    "Eli Ayase and Nozomi Tojo are the victors," the teacher said. Hanayo was starstruck. The Death Fest actually looked like fun. She couldn't wait until she and Rin got to EAT... but what if they wouldn't let them compete with a weapon like her? Even if she kept her spikes blunt, she'd pretty much be guaranteed to give someone a concussion if she hit their head. And considering Rin's accuracy, it's pretty likely that would happen. So maybe the Death Fest should just be fun to watch for now.

    "Nico! Maki!" Eli shouted, running over to the group. Nozomi left her weapon form to stand next to Eli. "Thank you for coming to see us."

    "You two were great!" Nico shouted back. Nozomi threw her arms around both Nico and Maki, giving them a hug.

    "And thank you for bringing so many people to support us," Nozomi added, letting go of Nico and Maki to hug Honoka, Kotori, and Umi. After a few seconds, she let go of them to hug Rin and Hanayo. Nozomi hugging her and Rin was a bit of a surprise to Hanayo at first, but it was nice. Her hug was strong and she smelled like cinnamon. It was all too soon when she let go.

    "Nozomi, you just hugged five people you didn't really know in a span of thirty seconds," Maki said.

    "Oh yeah, should've introduced myself first," Nozomi replied. "I'm Nozomi, and I guess we're all on hugging terms now if you guys are okay with that."

 

    Everyone introduced themselves and walked off to a place more to the side of the streets to talk between rounds. Nozomi and Eli talked about their recent first mission to what was practically a ghost town in Eastern Europe, and Hanayo was enthralled by the story. Then Umi and Honoka began talking about μ's and the training everyone did over the summer. Hanayo added a few anecdotes of her own from the training stories, but other than that, she wasn't as active in the conversation. (she considered bringing up trick-or-treating, but Nozomi and Eli both seemed too old and cool for that kind of stuff) Then Eli's watch beeped.

    "Oh, it's about time for the second round," she said. "Are you girls gonna come and watch us fight again?"

    "Of course we will, nya!" Rin exclaimed.

    "Okay, then follow us, we'll be about three blocks that way," Nozomi replied, pointing in a vaguely left-ish direction. The sun was already beginning to set.  _ Oh, the trick-or-treaters are already going to be coming out, _ Hanayo thought.  _ I hope this is another short match, or the good candy might all be picked over by the time we get ready and go. But Nozomi and Eli are strong fighters, so if they win, we might be here all night! We won't even get Milk Duds or strange unlabeled gummy eyeballs that Rin-chan chucked down the school stairs for distance! But we'll still probably get Tootsie Rolls, everyone always has a neverending supply of Tootsie Rolls. And I'll get stuck with them because Rin-chan doesn't like them. They're okay, but I wouldn't go out and buy them on purpose. Oh, the fight's about to start. _

 

    Nozomi and Eli stood across from two other girls, who a teacher announced to be Ayumi Torii and Akiru Shinomiya. Nozomi and Akiru both transformed into their weapon forms. This time, Nozomi and Eli were not to be matched with another sword, as Akiru had transformed into a double-pointed quarterstaff. The teacher fired the starter pistol, and the match officially began. Ayumi started twirling Akiru around in her hands to show off, her hair flapping back in the resulting breeze. Eli seemed to be noticing how Ayumi spun Akiru, looking for a weak point where Akiru was barely touching Ayumi's hands. Eli swung Nozomi up at just what she thought was the right time to knock Akiru out of Ayumi's hands to end the fight as quickly as it began. But she just ended up barely grazing Akiru as Ayumi tossed her in the air, holding her right hand up to catch her. Ayumi then swung her so the wooden part of the quarterstaff would smack Eli right in the side.

    "Eli-chan!" Honoka shouted, watching Eli take the hit.

    "Don't worry, everyone," Eli said. "This is nothing!" she shouted, attempting to disarm Ayumi again. Someone screamed from back off into the distance, and both fighters paused for a second. Spectators including Hanayo turned around immediately to see what was going on. Four NOT students were running in at the scene with blank expressions and strange rings tipped to look like scorpion tails on their fingers. One of the students attacked a man in the crowd, stinging his shoulder with the ring.

    "It's an emergency!" Hanayo instinctively called out in panic. Maki immediately transformed into her pistol form, Nico then aiming her at the three renegade students.  _ Wait, three? _

    "Ayumi, forget about Ayase and protect the crowd!" Akiru shouted from her weapon form.

    "Right!" Ayumi replied. But where was number four? Hanayo thought, looking back at Ayumi and Eli. Renegade number four was right behind Eli, about to strike at her, when Nozomi leapt out of weapon form to take the hit from the stinger. 

    "Nozomi!" Eli cried out, seeing a small amount of blood spurt out from Nozomi's arm. Nico shot the renegade with a non-lethal bolt, and he collapsed onto the street. Eli took a few steps back as Nozomi's stare became just as blank as her assailant, her right eye turning blue with a red emblem across it. "Nozomi..." Eli repeated in shock, tears welling up in her eyes.

    "Kill," Nozomi said in monotone. "Kill."

    "This is witch brainwashing!" Umi shouted. "μ's! Grab Eli and let's regroup over in that alley over there! Nico, provide cover fire!"

    Hanayo and Rin ran in to grab Eli's arm and lead her off with them. Nozomi's forearm partially transformed into a blade.

    "No, I need to... but, Nozomi," Eli protested with, but Rin and Hanayo knew a lone meister would be kept at risk when their weapon was unable to fight with them.  _ I'm sorry, Eli-chan, but this is for your own safety. _ The brainwashed Nozomi flung her arm at the three, and Hanayo partially transformed her own arm to block the strike with a well-placed arm flick before she, Rin, and Eli ran off to join the others in the alley. Hanayo counted the group in her head. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and Maki-chan's in weapon form so that’s eight

    "Eli, are you okay?" Umi asked, noticing Eli wipe her tears away. "Did the renegades hurt you?"

    "I..." Eli replied, looking back over her shoulder. "Nozomi sacrificed herself to save me. It would be in vain if I didn't try to make it through the night still as myself."

    "Yeah, and I'm sure they'll be able to de-brainwash Nozomi," Nico added. "They did it to the girl from the Death Bazaar, and she seemed to have the exact same type of brainwashing."

    "Like it was from the same witch, nya," Rin pointed out. "But it seems like the magic's in the rings, so we have to watch out most for the ones with the rings to make sure we don't get brainwashed too."

    "But we still have to find ways to subdue the ones without the rings because they still have an instinct to hurt us," Umi added. "You all saw how Nozomi partially transformed and tried to cut her own meister."

    "And Nozomi never would have done that if she were herself," Eli said. "She loves me, she would never hurt me."

    "That's why we have to save her," Hanayo replied.

    "Uh, girls?" Kotori asked, pointing back out to the main street. Several of the brainwashed people were coming, but thankfully none were Demon Weapons. A few were chanting "kill, kill," just as Nozomi had said before.

    "I can hold them off with hand-to-hand, how many more of you are Demon Weapons?" Eli asked.

    "Three!" Honoka replied. She, Kotori, and Hanayo transformed, arming Umi and Rin. Eli balled up her fists and took a tough stance.

    "Kotori, can you make non-lethal arrows?" Umi asked.

    "Yeah!" Kotori replied. The default arrows in the quiver vanished and were replaced by ones glowing a much deeper blue. Umi pulled one out and drew her bow. Nico stood to cover her, aiming Maki at the group of the brainwashed. Rin and Eli ran off into the fray, Hanayo's chain jingling behind them in tow. Hanayo purposefully "forgot" to fully extend her spikes so at least nobody would get gored. She was still worried about the concussion risk to everyone, and hoped Rin wouldn't hit anyone in the head with her. These weren't monsters they were fighting, they were unwillingly brainwashed good  _ people. _ Not evil or Kishin eggs or anything else like that. So when Rin took the first swing, she was understandably nervous. Rin must have been nervous too, because Hanayo could feel how lightly Rin was swinging. Rin swang Hanayo with only enough force to disorient, letting Nico and Umi handle the knockouts.

    "Take this, nya!" Rin shouted. Hanayo noticed how Rin wasn't aiming for their opponents' heads, only torsos. Perhaps she could sense Hanayo's fears. But no, they aren't resonating, so the only assumption was that Rin was just as averse to causing (serious) injury as Hanayo was. Hanayo also thought she noticed something behind her and Rin. A glint. Rin turned around and struck another hit, this person having one of the rings. The person collapsed onto the street, apparently knocked out. But Rin didn't check to know for sure. Because more and more of the brainwashed kept coming, like a zombie horde in a horror movie. And as they kept coming, Rin kept swinging. Umi and Nico kept shooting. And Eli kept punching. Until one of them grabbed Rin's ankle. The one she thought she had knocked out earlier. The one with the ring. Hanayo gasped in horror, too petrified to even sacrifice herself like Nozomi did. Rin cried out in pain as the ring stabbed into her ankle. Until her eyes went blank, and she turned to run towards Eli.

    "Rin-chan?" Hanayo frantically asked. "Rin-chan, you're still in there, don't do it!" she pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes. Rin was her dearest friend and the person she loved more than anyone else, she can't have just gone out like that. "Rin-chan!" Hanayo kept shouting. And Rin didn't seem to listen, swinging Hanayo straight at Eli's head. Midway through the swing, Hanayo leapt out of weapon form, jumping out to the side and into the street, scraping her elbow. But that injury was a small price to pay so Eli wouldn't get hurt. Eli grabbed both Rin's wrists, and at that point Hanayo looked away. She couldn't bear to see anyone hurt Rin, even if Eli was only trying to harmlessly knock her out. The brainwashed man with the ring then collapsed in front of Hanayo, one of Umi's arrows in his back. Hanayo had every instinct to run away, but she couldn't abandon her friends. She couldn't see Eli and Rin anymore in the crowd, and Nico seemed to have run off to do her own thing, a "Nico-Nico-Nii" and gunshots from the distance proving this. But Umi couldn't fire arrows fast enough, so she focused on hitting everyone that still had a ring, until the last few of them were unconscious.

    "Kotori, find Hanayo!" Umi shouted. "I'll use Honoka as a melee weapon."

    "I got that!" Kotori replied, leaving a silver streak in the air as she returned to human form among the crowd. "Hanayo-chaaaaaaan!" she called out.

    "I'm right here!" Hanayo wailed. She partially transformed her arm so that her elbow wouldn't bleed all over herself. Kotori looked into Hanayo's scared and crying eyes and took her hand.

    "It's going to be okay," Kotori said. "Eli-chan knows what it's like to lose a partner, she's just bringing Rin-chan to a safe place." Hanayo trembled a bit as Kotori said this, internally convincing herself Rin was going to be okay. Which wasn't hard at all, since she trusted Eli. "Hanayo-chan's okay! Umi-chan, we have to go regroup with Nico-chan before she gets herself into any trouble."

    "Okay, you girls follow me," Umi replied, dashing off in the direction the gunshots were coming from, Honoka still in her hand. Kotori led Hanayo to follow them, still holding her hand. Hanayo looked back over her shoulder to see if Eli was coming back with Rin. But she didn't see either of them before she and Kotori turned a corner. She saw Nico standing on top of a parked car, shooting non-lethal bolts at the brainwashed like she was the protagonist of a zombie movie. Kotori transformed again, and Umi began firing to support Nico. Hanayo stayed back by a vending machine. She was not very good with trying to be an autonomous weapon, so she figured it'd be best for her to be an emergency reinforcement if needed.

    "Hey, where's Rin?" Nico asked. Hanayo bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling.

    "She turned, like Nozomi," Umi replied shooting out another arrow. "Eli's keeping her safe."

    "With Hanayo?" Nico asked.

    "No, but...*gasp* behind you!" Umi shouted.

    "Wha...aagh!" Nico screamed. Another one with the ring was behind her, and it seemed he got her. "Take Maki-chan and run!" Nico said, shooting her assailant and throwing Maki off to the side before turning. Maki sailed into the vending machine glass. Hanayo immediately used her free hand to pull Maki out. Maki appeared as a reflection on the side of her barrel.

    "Are you okay?" Hanayo asked.

    "I swear, when they find out how to cure this brainwashing I'm gonna..." Maki replied. "Who does she think she is, doing something like that?"  _ Well, Maki-chan's definitely okay. _ Hanayo returned her partially-transformed arm to normal, and held onto Maki with both her hands, aiming her at the brainwashed. "Hanayo, what are you doing?"

    "I'm going to fight!" Hanayo shouted, blindly firing Maki at anyone who looked remotely brainwashed and wasn't Nico. Lucky for Hanayo, her wavelength was compatible enough with Maki's that it wasn't a problem, but since Hanayo had never held a gun before this moment, her accuracy was a problem. In that short erratic burst, Hanayo managed to take out a streetlamp, knock out four people, and pop one of the parked car's tires.

    "Well, four out of twenty is..." Maki began, "...well, you tried."

    "Hanayo, you hit Nico!" Umi exclaimed, running up to Nico and listening to see if she was still breathing. "Oh, thank goodness, it wasn't a lethal bolt," she said. Kotori left her weapon form and hoisted Nico up on her back. There was only one brainwashed person left in the area, who Umi subdued by using Honoka as a melee weapon. Umi and Kotori then walked back over to Hanayo to regroup.

    "Okay, we should find Eli and Rin, then get back to either the dorms or DWMA," Umi said. "It should be safer there."

    Maki left her weapon form, and Hanayo walked up to Nico. She put a hand on her sleeping face, and hoped Nico would be herself again once she wakes.

    "Nico-chan, I'm so sorry," Hanayo stammered. She didn't even care that there were tears running down her face that still hadn't fully stopped since Rin turned. She didn't even care that she missed trick-or-treating. She, Hanayo Koizumi, just wanted this night to be over.  _ Somebody save me, _ she thought, feeling like even the words she thought in her head were trembling.  _ Save us all.  _

    "Don't beat yourself up over it," Maki said with a smile. "It was an accident, and she'll come around pretty soon. Let's go find Rin, okay?"

    "Okay," Hanayo sniffled.  _ We're all turning one by one, Nozomi-chan, Rin-chan, poor Rin-chan, and now Nico-chan? Who's gonna be next,  if anyone even is? Probably me, I'm worrying so much I can barely fight. If I could become blank like them, I wouldn't worry anymore. But I'd still be in there, even more helpless than I am now. Oh, I can't even handle this, how can I advance to EAT if I can't handle this? _

    "Hanayo, you're breathing funny," Maki said.  _ What? WHAT? WHAAAT? _

    "An anxiety attack?" Kotori asked. "Hanayo-chan, do you have anxiety?"

    "I don't know, I've never been diagnosed with anything, and I don't know what all the signs are," Hanayo said. Honoka immediately left her weapon form and hugged Hanayo.

    "It's gonna be okay, Hanayo-chan," Honoka said, her voice trembling too. "Rin-chan will be fine, Eli-chan's taken her to a safe place." 

    "Honoka-chan, you're..." Hanayo began.

    "I know, I'm scared too," Honoka replied. "We all are. But we can make it through this together, I know we can. Because we're μ's. μ's can make it through anything."

    "μ's can make it," Hanayo repeated, hugging Honoka back tighter than she hugged her. She took a few deep breaths. She hadn't  _ fully _ calmed down, but she was beginning to stave off the worst of it.

    "Now come on, we have to go regroup with Eli-chan," Honoka said. Hanayo nodded, and tried to smile. Honoka took her hand and led her along with the others down the street. Eli and Rin had to be somewhere around here.

 

    Hanayo was the first one to spot them. They were both in an alleyway with an unconscious Nozomi. Rin was still out cold, and Eli was holding on to both her and Nozomi to protect them. There seemed to be nobody around there but the three of them. Hanayo wiped the tear stains off her glasses (again) with her shirt and immediately ran up to Rin.

    "Rin-chan!" she exclaimed, holding Rin in her arms.  _ She looks so peaceful, _ Hanayo thought.

    "I was going to take her and Nozomi back to the dorms, but it's been overrun there," Eli said. "I can't easily fight them all off and simultaneously keep Rin and Nozomi with me, so we're waiting it out here."

    "Could you keep Nico-chan with you?" Kotori asked, setting Nico down over by Eli. "I have to go to the restroom, and there's a place that still looks open over there," she said, pointing to a little corner shop that still had a light on.

    "Sure, I understand," Eli replied. "But they only let paying customers use their restroom, so you have to buy something," she added, pointing to a cheap rubber bracelet around her wrist that wasn't there before.

    "Umi-chaaan..." Kotori begged. Umi sighed and handed her a twenty. "Thank you!" Kotori exclaimed, running off out of sight. Hanayo looked back down at Rin's sleeping face. Rin looked like she was going to come around pretty soon, and Hanayo hoped she'd come back as herself. Seeing that Rin was still alive alleviated some of her worries, but Hanayo was still horribly anxious. The feelings she had accumulated earlier and throughout the night hadn't worn off, and neither did her shaking and trembling. At least she'd stopped crying a while ago.

    "Rin-chan, ca-can you hear me?" Hanayo asked. "It's Hanayo. Your partner, your best friend,  _ your Kayo-chin. _ I know you're in there, Rin-chan. So please..."

    Rin began to stir. Hanayo's face lit up in surprise, hoping for the best. Rin grumbled something, her eyes beginning to open. Everyone gasped and looked over at her. Left eye, still yellow like a cat's. Right eye, the same blue and red as the brainwashed.  _ No, _ Hanayo thought, grabbing onto Rin's wrists with both her hands and sitting down on her ankles.  _ This better restrain her for now. _

    "Her eye!" Umi exclaimed.

    "I know!" Hanayo wailed. "But I... I think I can snap her out of it," she said, looking back at Rin. "Rin-chan, can you hear me?" she repeated. "It's Kayo-chin."

    "Kill," Rin said. "Kill, nya."

    "Well, at least part of her's still on the surface," Maki muttered. Rin began to flail around, but Hanayo didn't waver.

    "Rin-chan, stay still for a moment!" Hanayo exclaimed. "You remember who I am, don't you? You remember who we all are, right? All those memories of summer training, the horror movies we tried to watch at who knows how late, all those times we played together, studied together,  laughed together, cried together, ever since we were kids?"

    Rin had no response, but she winced, flinching a bit. Maybe the memories, the memories are bringing her back.

    "Remember the first time we found out I was a weapon, nearly three years ago?" Hanayo asked. " You tried to stay cool, but I could tell by the look on your face that you were really, really surprised. Probably almost as scared and confused as I was. And remember what you said to me when for lunch in the cafeteria the other day I had a really huge bowl of plain white rice? It wasn't just my rice, but you let me pile on yours too because..."

    "Kill," Rin repeated. There was a horrifyingly high-pitched scream over around the corner, but Hanayo wasn't going to let that distract her.

    "You said,  _ 'I don't mind giving you all my rice today, Kayo-chin, since you look so cute when you're rice-happy' _ ," Hanayo said, tears streaming down her face again "Rice-happy. I didn't know you made up your own special term for that."

    "Hey, Kotori-chan's back!" Honoka shouted. "Kotori-cha... Kotori-chan?"

    "Honoka-chan, we're in the middle of some-" Hanayo started, before looking over at a lone female figure standing at the edge of the alleyway. She was definitely Kotori, but there was something off about her. Her right arm had partially transformed into a glowing silvery arrow,  and there was a blank look in her eyes. One was the same amber as normal, but the other had the red and blue mark.  _ No, Kotori-chan couldn't be brainwashed, could she? _

    "Kill," Kotori said, her arrow arm glowing stronger. "Kill them all."

    "Maki, transform!" Eli shouted, letting go of Nozomi. Maki hesitated for a second, before transforming. Eli spun Maki's pistol form around her index finger before aiming her at at the brainwashed Kotori. "Kotori, I may have just met you today," Eli began. "But I know you're not yourself right now. So don't come any closer or... I'll fire! I'll do it!" Her trembling hands suggested otherwise. Kotori didn't seem to hear Eli, and ran up to the group with a high-pitched battle screech. She ran for Honoka first, who transformed in self-defense so Kotori couldn't stab her. Kotori nimbly dodged Honoka, now a bow on the ground, and went for Eli. Umi tried to grab Kotori from behind, but ended up slipping on Honoka and faceplanting to the ground. Honoka left weapon form, frantically asking if Umi was okay. This distracted Kotori, who glanced over at her partners for a second, before turning back around to see Eli had Maki up against her forehead.

    "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, she's on a non-lethal-" Eli was cut off mid-sentence by Kotori kicking her in the side. Eli's finger slipped and she fired a bolt into a window pane, before Maki fell out of her hand and her reach. And Eli fell to the ground, Kotori pointing her arrow arm directly at Eli's throat. An uncharacteristically demented grin spread across Kotori's face, as Honoka ran over to grab the non-transformed part of Kotori's arm and hold her back for just long enough that Eli could get back on her feet. Hanayo couldn't get up and join this chaos, she had to keep Rin restrained or else everyone would have to fight two opponents. But she didn't notice Nozomi had come around behind her. Nozomi lifted Hanayo up off the ground, and Rin broke her grip, running to attack Umi. All Hanayo could see for a second was Maki running back in to join the fray, before she realized that Nozomi was back up and fighting. Nozomi threw her to the ground, both her forearms transforming into blades. Hanayo only had one thing on her mind to shout as Nozomi ran towards her.

    "SOMEBODY SAVE MEEEEE!" Hanayo shouted at the top of her lungs. Maki ran in to her rescue, but Nozomi elbowed her in the gut and she went down. Nozomi then pointed a blade arm at both girls' throats. Hanayo wondered for a split second if this was going to be the end. Killed in an alleyway on Halloween night by a new friend who had no idea she would even have done it, what a horrible way to go out. But suddenly, Nozomi, Kotori, and Rin all simultaneously passed out. (Nico would have too, if she weren't still out cold already)

    "Wha... what was that?" Maki asked. "I... I don't understand it."

    "Something must have happened to break the witch's spell," Eli said, walking over to Nozomi. "Either she couldn't take having so many people under her curse and she dropped outliers, or more likely, she was found and killed by someone from DWMA."

    "Hey, Kotori-chan's still breathing!" Honoka exclaimed. "Woah, Umi-chan! Rin-chan got you  _ good _ , there's blood coming out of your lip."

    "I can feel it's busted, but I'll be fine," Umi replied, checking Rin for signs of a pulse or breathing, which she thankfully displayed both. "Hanayo, don't worry, Rin seems to be okay."

    "Nozomi's still breathing, too!" Eli said with relief.

    "And Nico-chan's still alive," Maki added.

    "They're all just sleeping," Hanayo said, getting back up. She had a few minor scrapes on her arms and legs, but physically she was doing okay. Emotionally, it felt like everything at once hit her. She walked up to Rin again, hoping she would wake up soon. "We should probably get Rin-chan and the others to a doctor," Hanayo said.

    "I was just about to say something like that," Eli said, lifting Nozomi up on her back. Umi picked up Kotori, and Maki picked up Nico. Hanayo and Honoka both picked up Rin, Hanayo handling her upper body while Honoka handled her legs. 

    "Come on, girls, let's get back to DWMA," Eli said, just as the sun began to rise over the horizon. Hanayo couldn't believe the whole night had passed already. Which meant it had already been November 1st, Rin's birthday, for several hours.  _ Happy birthday, Rin-chan, _ Hanayo thought.  _ Let's hope your present is that you'll wake up cured. _


	9. We're Advancing to EAT!

    Rin came to in the school infirmary with a bitter taste in her mouth. She was confused for a second, wasn't she supposed to be in the streets, fighting brainwashed people with Hanayo and the others? The sunlight hit her eyes, wasn't it supposed to be night? How long was she out? The last thing Rin could remember was being stabbed in the ankle, and then everything went dark. And a little bit of Hanayo's voice, sort of like an echo.

    "Rin-chan!" Hanayo exclaimed, hugging Rin before she had any more time to gather her thoughts. Hanayo's glasses were covered in tear stains, and she looked like she hadn't slept a wink.  _ Did Kayo-chin...stay up all this time?  _ Rin thought.

    "Kayo-chin, what happened?" Rin asked. "And how long was I out?"

    "I can answer that question," Eli replied. Looking around, Rin could see Eli was the only other person awake in the room. Nozomi was asleep in the bed next to Rin, and the rest of μ's was all there too, sleeping in either hospital beds or makeshift beds they made on the floor. "Rin, you were brainwashed by the witch Shaula Gorgon. More specifically, her minions, who I found out were called the... *yawns* the Traitors."

    "Wow, nya," Rin said. No wonder she couldn't remember anything.

    "You were only out for about eight hours total," Eli added. Rin sighed with relief.

    "So you didn't miss your birthday," Hanayo said. "Isn't that great?"

    "Of course it is, Kayo-chin!" Rin replied. "And thank you so much for staying by my side until I woke up."

    Hanayo gave Rin a smile that could light up the whole room.

    "You remember when you were brainwashed, right?" Eli asked. Rin nodded. "And after you were, Hanayo immediately left weapon form so you wouldn't kill me." Rin couldn't believe what Eli was saying. "I knocked you out as painlessly as I possibly could, and prepared to take you to the dorms. On the way I picked up Nozomi, who had already been knocked out by a Death Fest fighter. The dorms were overrun, so I decided to go ahead and find another safe place for you and Nozomi until Hanayo and the others could catch up to you. Once they found us, Nico had already been brainwashed and knocked out, and in a few minutes, Kotori ended up brainwashed as well. We all had to fight each other in the alleyway until the witch was killed by three NOT students, and everyone who was brainwashed passed out as a result. Then we took everyone back to DWMA, where a man named Stein was administering antidotes to anyone who needed them. And that's what happened, from my perspective."

    "Sorry to bother you girls, but is everyone doing okay?" a woman asked. Rin looked over her shoulder to see the school nurse, Medusa, just checking in with her usual rounds.

    "Rin Hoshizora is awake, and... oh Hanayo just fell asleep on her lap," Eli replied. Rin looked down at Hanayo and couldn't help but smile.  _ Poor Kayo-chin must be exhausted. When she wakes up, I'll have to ask her what she was doing, since it didn't seem she was with Eli-chan for very long. Knowing Kayo-chin, I'm sure it'll be a very interesting story. _

 

    Rin, Nozomi, Kotori, and Nico spent the next few months in recovery, and once tests showed they had no remnant of the witch's brainwashing, they could finally return to class. And for Rin, Kotori, and Nico, training with the rest of μ's. Umi had put training on hold while they were recovering, but when they got back, she announced that they were all going to push to become EAT students this very year. And she sure sounded serious about it. Rin thought about how much work that would entail all evening, and by the time she and Hanayo returned to their dorm room, she had made up her mind.

    "Kayo-chin, I think I'm up to it if you are," Rin said. "I mean, I can handle myself as an EAT student as long as I don't make the same mistake I made last Halloween, nya. Which I won't because we won't be fighting people, but Kishin eggs."

    "I know," Hanayo replied, taking her slippers off and setting them by the foot of her bed.

    "What's wrong, Kayo-chin?" Rin asked. "Are you worried, nya?"

    "Yeah, a little," Hanayo replied. "But I'm also really excited to be heroes together with all our friends."

    "Kayo-chin..."

    "Okay, I'm more than just a little worried, but I'll still do my best," Hanayo said, sitting down on her bed. Rin walked over to sit next to her.

    "Hey, you wanna cuddle?" Rin asked out of the blue. "It'll definitely cheer you up, plus we haven't gotten to since before Halloween."

    "I'd really like that," Hanayo said, her face turning a bit red. T _ hat's strange, Kayo-chin doesn't usually get all blushy like this, _ Rin thought, laying down next to Hanayo and wrapping her arms around her. It felt nice to be together like this in their familiar room. Oh, how Rin missed that. She missed the dorms, and the warmth, and the nice smell Hanayo had after she came back from the bath. She felt like pretty soon, she was going to fall asleep right then and there.

    "Rin-chan, there's something I have to say," Hanayo said. Rin jolted back to being fully awake for a second. "I've thought about it a lot over the last year, but I never really had the courage to say it until recently. I was going to tell you on your birthday, but then the attack happened and well, I wanted to wait until you were fully recovered. Ah, I'm rambling, where was I going with this?"

    "It's okay, I don't mind when you ramble," Rin replied. "It's cute."

    "Really?" Hanayo asked. Rin looked down at her face to see that she was smiling like she was on Rin's birthday. "But I should really get to the point." Hanayo took a deep breath. "Rin-chan, I love you," she said.

    "Aww, Kayo-chin, I love you too!" Rin exclaimed, hugging Hanayo tighter.

    "Like, really love you," Hanayo added. Rin realized that Hanayo wasn't saying it casually like they both tended to do, her eyes widening in surprise. "In a romantic way."

    "Oh... oh!" Rin replied. "I really love you too, Kayo-chin! More than anyone, nya!"

    She gave Hanayo a kiss on the forehead and a great big smile. And hoped that the gesture seemed like she was serious about her reciprocation. Because this wasn't the first time Rin had kissed Hanayo on the forehead. Or the first time one of them had said she loved the other more than anyone else. They were usually so open and affectionate with each other that this kind of stuff just bled into a normal night at the dorm. (Minus Hanayo explicitly stating that she loved Rin romantically. That was a new one)

    "And I love you more than anyone, too," Hanayo said, giving Rin a kiss on the cheek. The two of them stayed snuggled up like that for a little while longer until they both drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

 

    The next day, Rin and Hanayo returned to the front lawn for training, hand in hand. The rest of the group was all there, along with Nozomi and Eli. And an easel with a huge pad of paper on it, along with the usual array of training dummies.

    "Hey everyone, Kayo-chin and I are dating now, nya!" Rin exclaimed. Hanayo blushed.

    "Congratulations!" Honoka replied, running up to hug both of them.

    "Wait, I thought you two already have been for some time," Maki said, flabbergasted.

    "You two are a perfect match," Kotori added.

    "I agree," Nozomi said, holding up a tarot card. Rin didn't look at it closely, but she was pretty sure Nozomi was holding up The Lovers. "Oh, by the way, Elicchi and I are going to help you guys with your training from now on. If you guys really want to make it to EAT, you'd need some EAT students to help you train, right?"

    "Sounds about reasonable," Hanayo replied.

    "Mhm," Umi said. "Starting today, I will be resigning as the main coach for μ's. Eli will take the helm for my position, and Nozomi and I will serve as our co-assistant coaches."

    "Umi and I stayed up late last night devising a plan together for coaching," Eli added, flipping open the pad of paper to show a pie chart in Umi's handwriting. Nozomi pulled out an extendable pointing stick from her sweater vest and extended it out to point to the pie chart.

    "First priorities," Umi began, "Physical conditioning! Homework! Weapon training!" Nozomi pointed to the corresponding slices on the pie chart as Umi called them out, striking the paper to create some satisfying  _ "thwack" _ sounds. With those three slices, nearly the entire pie chart had been taken up. Rin just stared at the board, slack-jawed at the recommended times.  _ Wake up at five in the morning every day for pre-class conditioning? _ she thought. It seemed absurd, but she did not want to invoke Umi's wrath by confronting her about it. Not to mention how all the group's afternoons and evenings were going to be spent on training.

    "Wait, where's our leisure time?" Nico asked, taking the words right out of Rin's mouth.

    "Leisure is when you sleep!" Umi replied. "Or when Kotori has to repair the damaged training dummies," she whispered to herself.

    "No, this is a bit overkill now that I look at it," Nozomi said. "We could take a bit away from weapon training, depending on how proficient everyone is," she added. Umi sighed.

    "No, weapon training is a major area where Nico and Rin have atrophied over the time of their recoveries," she said. "They need to be able to at least return to the level of skill they had previously before Eli and I would even consider it."

    "Now hold on just a second," Nico interjected. "I'm sure Rin and I are just as good as we were before."

    "Neither of you have wielded a weapon in months," Maki said, transforming. Nico caught her mid-air. "If you're so sure of yourself, then you should have no problem shooting the dummies."

    "I won't," Nico replied, taking aim and taking her special shooting pose. "Nico-Nico-Nii!" she exclaimed, firing one shot that barely grazed the training dummy's shoulder.

    "I guess we're opening with weapon practice, nya," Rin said. "Kayo-chin, transform!"

    "Okay!" Hanayo replied, taking Rin's hand and transforming into her weapon form. With a sharp "Hyah!" Rin rain towards one of the training dummies, swung, and missed. She swung again and Hanayo got stuck in its face.  _ Well, if that were a Kishin egg, it definitely would have died and vanished, _ Rin thought, pulling Hanayo out. The holes in the dummy didn't even go that deep, not even hitting the blood bag, just the burlap and a bit of the stuffing.  _ No, wait. _ Rin looked nervously at Honoka, Kotori, and Umi.

    "Rin, remember to use a bit more power," Umi said. "Try swinging again." Rin did try again, smashing the training dummy's face in, the fake blood spurting everywhere. The training dummy fell to the ground, its head still attached to its body.  _ Let's see, Kotori-chan's been in the hospital with me all this time, so she can't have built a stronger dummy. So I guess my form's weakened after all. _ Rin sighed.

    "That's still acceptable form for an EAT student," Nozomi said. "You were able to 'kill' your target in less than a minute. Now, it's definitely harder when your target's something that fights back, and all the training dummies in the world won't help against moving targets."

    "I usually decapitate the dummies on my first hit," Rin replied. Nozomi looked legitimately shocked.

    "You and Hanayo-chan are really strong together," she said. "I have no doubt you two will be able to pass the weapons tests." Nozomi then looked back at Eli, who was coaching Nico and Maki. Rin looked over too, watching Eli guide Nico's hands into a more proper position to hold Maki with.

    "You're going to have to learn how to fire normally for the exam," Eli said. "Then when you pass, you can do your 'Nico-Nico-Nii' to your heart's content, okay?" she asked. Nico grumbled something, and then tried to fire again. Her marksmanship seemed about the same regardless of the technique she used.  _ I hope Nico-chan can pass, _ Rin thought, seeing Nico fire and miss again.

    "Rin-chan!" Nozomi called out. She set the training dummy back up. "Would you like to practice on a moving target?"

    "We can't hurt you, Nozomi-chan!" Rin and Hanayo both exclaimed.

    "Not me," Nozomi replied. "Wait just one second," she said, running off back into the dorms. Nozomi came back a few minutes later with a roll of duct tape and a Roomba. She picked up one of the training dummies, set it on top of the Roomba, and taped it down. Then Nozomi turned the Roomba on, and it began scooting around the front walk.

    "Nozomi, what are you doing?" Umi asked.

    "Moving target!" Nozomi exclaimed. Honoka's face lit up.

    "Umi-chan, Umi-chan!" she exclaimed. "We gotta shoot it!"

    "Hold on, Rin-chan's going first," Nozomi said. Rin looked at the contraption of sorts. It was moving pretty slow from the extra weight, so Rin assumed it definitely wouldn't be a challenge to hit. She ran up and swung as hard as she could. A lucky hit to the torso toppled both the dummy and Roomba over.

    "Nice going!" Kotori exclaimed, before she and Honoka transformed to their weapon forms. Hanayo left her weapon form and checked the Roomba for damage. The dummy had to be replaced due to a burst blood bag, but the Roomba was still intact. Rin, Hanayo, Nico, Maki, Nozomi, and Eli sat down at a safer distance as Umi drew Honoka's string back.

    "This will be harder since she has a ranged weapon," Eli said. "Nico, I need you to watch her as she aims."

    "Okay," Nico replied. Umi fired an arrow, which narrowly missed, going into the landscaping. Umi was usually a perfect shot, but before today, Rin had never seen her aim at a moving target. And if Umi couldn't hit an erratically-moving training dummy on a Roomba, well, let's just say everyone could physically feel Nico's hopes get lower.

    "You'll probably do better, Nicocchi, since you don't have drawing time," Nozomi said.

    "As if there was any doubt DWMA's number one meister..."

    "You mean Professor Stein?" Maki interjected. Nico stopped for a second and glared at Maki. Then they began bickering over which one was actually the stronger meister. Rin tuned that out, preferring to watch Umi, even as Hanayo tried to break up Nico and Maki's argument. Umi fired again, this time hitting the dummy's right shoulder, right where the joint would be. She got out another arrow to finish it off, but that one and the one after that missed. And then Umi scored a headshot.

    "Great shot, Umi-chan!" Rin exclaimed. Umi looked over her shoulder at Rin and smiled.

    "If you two are done bickering, I-I think you're up next," Hanayo said to Nico and Maki.

    "Good, I want to prove to her I'm right," Nico replied. Eli and Nozomi swapped out the bloodied and broken dummy out for a fresh one, and Nico took her position, aiming Maki at the moving target. Her first shot hit the training dummy right in the throat.

    "That's pretty fatal-looking," Nozomi pointed out, looking at the leaking blood bag. "Well, time to untape this thing," she said. Nozomi approached from behind, and then the Roomba turned around, the dummy spraying her with fake blood. Rin couldn't help but laugh a little after she saw that Nozomi didn't seem upset. (Rin wanted to laugh with her, not at her)

    "Nozomi!" Eli gasped, running over to Nozomi.

    "It's all right, Elicchi," Nozomi replied, holding her hand. "I'll just wipe it off with something."

    "No, let me," Eli said, holding out a handkerchief and wiping the fake blood off of Nozomi's face and arms.

    "Okay, everyone, we're going to do a few more sessions with the moving target and then we're going to move on to fitness training," Umi told the rest of the group. "Now let me hear your enthusiasm!"

    "Yeah!" everyone in μ's cheered.

 

    The training sessions only got more difficult from there. More and more difficult until Rin began to wonder whether the official exam was going to be  _ easier _ than what Umi, Nozomi, and Eli could put everyone through. She and Hanayo were so glad once the exams were finished. And all that was left was to look and see who got in, if any of μ's even did. They both checked the board every day until the results were finally posted. Rin and Hanayo pushed their way to the front of the crowd to look for even just one of the μ's members' names.  _ If even one of us passed, this would all be worth it, _ Rin thought. She scanned the left half of the board, Hanayo the right. Rin scanned last names A-M, Hanayo N-Z. 

    "I see a Nishikino!" Hanayo exclaimed. "Maki-chan made it!"

    "That's great, nya!" Rin replied, still looking around.  _ Let's see, Hoshizora starts with "H", Koizumi and Kousaka start with "K", Minami starts with "M", so I need to look on the lower part of...  _ "Kayo-chin, look!" she shouted. "I found my name! I! FOUND! MY! NAME!"

    "Rin-chan, I'm so proud of you!" Hanayo exclaimed, taking a break from her scanning to give Rin a hug. Rin glanced back up, and out of the corner of her eye she saw two names right next to each other. Hanayo Koizumi and Honoka Kousaka.

    "And I'm proud of you!"

    "What?" Hanayo asked.

    "Yeah, look, your name's on the list, right above Honoka-chan," Rin said. Hanayo gasped in excitement.

    "I didn't think I'd get in," Hanayo replied. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it."

    Hanayo let go of Rin and took a step back to continue her scanning.

    "You just have to look for Kotori-chan now, right?" she asked.

    "Yeah," Rin replied, looking over in the area with the "M" last names. "And she's here!"

    "I found Umi-chan and Nico-chan too," Hanayo said. "We... we all made it."

    "We all made it, nya," Rin repeated. She and Hanayo looked at each other with grins on their faces and glints in their eyes. They grabbed each other's hands.

    "We all made it! We all made it!" they both shouted in unison, jumping up and down with excitement. They ran back to the crowd to where the rest of μ's was standing. They could all tell just from the expressions on Rin and Hanayo's faces what the good news was. (and that they were both shouting a lot about it)

    "We're all in EAT... together?" Honoka asked. "That's so amazing!"

    "As if there was any doubt that the number one meister Nico-Nii would advance to EAT," Nico said.

    "You better not act like that as an EAT student," Maki muttered under her breath.

    "I knew my training would pay off," Umi said with relief.

    "What class are we going to?" Kotori asked. Rin paused for a second.  _ Shoot, I forgot to check that. I hope Kayo-chin did. _

    "We're all in the same class," Hanayo replied. "Class Starry Sky."

    "Hey, that's the one Elicchi and I are in," Nozomi pointed out.

    "Perfect, we'll all be together," Eli said.

    "I'm so happy we'll all be in the same class, nya!" Rin exclaimed.

    Rin and the others made their first trip to Class Starry Sky a week after the results were posted. On the first glance, the classroom looked pretty much the same as her old NOT classroom. Black-and-white-tiled floor, a semicircle of seats arranged in rows that went higher up as they went further to the back of the classroom, and a blackboard dominating the wall behind the teacher's desk.

    "It's good that the classroom has a familiar feel, nya," Rin said, before looking up at the other students in their seats.  _ Although the different people are going to take some time to get used to, _ she thought.

    "Nozomi-chan! Eli-chan!" Honoka exclaimed, passing Rin and Hanayo to greet the two EAT veterans already in their seats. None of the seating blocks had enough space for μ's to all sit together, so after Kotori and Umi joined Honoka, it became clear that the other four would have to sit in the next row up.

    "Rin-chan, should we just sit wherever?" Hanayo whispered.

    "I think so, that's how it worked in NOT," Rin replied. Nico immediately led Maki to the center of the front row. Rin noticed how Nozomi winced at Nico sitting there and pondered what exactly that could mean, as she and Hanayo took the seats directly in front of Nozomi and Eli, and behind Nico and Maki. Just then, the door opened, and three girls entered the room. The first to come in was a brunette with sharp green eyes and barely any bangs to speak of; the second, a softer-looking girl who had more reddish-brown hair and looked like a princess; and the third, a girl with dark purplish hair and a mole below her left eye. They all looked both glamourous and like they meant business. Rin could instantly tell they were the class's tough girls.

    "Tsubasa, there's someone in our seats," the girl with the mole pointed out.

    "Hmm," the green-eyed brunette, apparently Tsubasa, replied. She walked up to Nico and Maki, flanked by the other two. "I've never seen you two before today."

    There was a familiar glint in Nico's eyes as she stood up from her seat, not to give up but to make her tiny self's presence more known.

    "Nico-Nico-Nii!" she began.  _ Oh no, please don't tell me she introduced herself like that. _ "I'm the number one meister Nico Yazawa, seventeen years old and just transferred into EAT,"  Nico said. The three girls smiled a bit at Nico, but not in a 'we-think-that-was-super-cute' way, more of a 'we're-trying-not-to-laugh' way. Rin grabbed Hanayo's hand.

    "Transform at a moment's notice if they start harassing Nico-chan," Rin whispered. Hanayo nodded.

    "Nice to meet you, Nico," Tsubasa said. "I'm Tsubasa Kira, a meister, and these are my partners, Anju Yuuki and Erena Todo." She pointed to the princessy-looking girl and the girl with the mole, respectively. 

    "Those seats are usually our territory," Erena said, pointing to a carved bit of graffiti reading  _ "A-RISE" _ on the desk.  _ A-RISE must be what they call themselves. How cute, a nickname just like μ's. Wonder what A-RISE means to them? _ Rin thought.

    "But since it's your first day, we'll let you have the seats on one condition," Anju added.

    "That you sit somewhere else from tomorrow on," Tsubasa concluded with.

    "Fine, not like I cared where we sat anyway," Maki replied. "I'm Maki Nishikino, by the way. The two in the row behind us are Rin and Hanayo, and the three sitting next to Nozomi and Eli are Honoka, Kotori, and Umi."

    All three members of A-RISE took a step back in surprise.

    "Umi, as in Umi Sonoda?" Tsubasa asked.

    "The number one ranked female meister of this year's new EAT transfers?" Anju added.

    "Hey, I think you mispronounced Nico Yazawa," Nico said.

    "She didn't," Erena replied. It sounded a lot more harsh than it seemed she meant it to be. And that was the last bit of attention A-RISE gave Nico before class would start, as they all went up to talk to Umi.  _ They completely passed us by, _ Rin thought, sighing with relief.  _ I bet Nico-chan's gonna declare them our rivals for that or something. I really don't wanna be rivals with anyone... _

 

    Rin's thoughts were interrupted by the school bell ringing. A-RISE hurried to some empty seats in the second row as the classroom door opened and the teacher stepped in. She wore bandages wrapped around her chest, face, arms, and feet, as well as a pair of green camo-patterned pants. Her hair was done up in dreadlocks, and her eyes, a piercing icy blue.

    "Good morning, everyone," she said, walking up to the blackboard and writing her name down. Nygus. "I see we have seven new faces in class this year. Congratulations to you girls on passing the exams, but be warned, that was the easy part. You are now in the 'Especially Advantaged Talent', or 'EAT' division, which means you are now eligible to take on missions to kill Kishin eggs and take their souls.  These missions may be numerous, and they  _ will be dangerous _ . Each Demon weapon must gain the souls of ninety-nine Kishin eggs and one witch in order to become a Death Scythe and after graduation, work in the upper ranks as a weapon for Lord Death himself."

    Hanayo and Rin gulped.

    "How many in this class want to become or make your partners into Death Scythes?" Nygus asked. Eli, Nozomi, Umi, Honoka, Kotori, and Nico all raised their hands, along with several others in the class including A-RISE. Rin hesitated for a second, before adding her hand to the fray. Hanayo soon joined her. Maki was the only one in μ's who didn't seem to entertain the possibility, and one of very few in the class.

    "I see nobody's given up, and most of the new girls joined you," Nygus said. "Becoming a Death Scythe is a goal, but not THE goal of being in EAT. You are here to further develop your abilities beyond what is offered in NOT and to help the DWMA if needed in our mission to eliminate evil and rid the world of Kishins and Kishin eggs. Now, I only have one more thing to ask before I get class going."

 

    "Are you ready?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember back like 3 chapters ago when I said the ages were a year before canon and there was a reason for that? well, this next EAT class arc is the reason. the next chapter's gonna be Honoka, Kotori, and Umi's first mission! yay! hope things don't go wrong


	10. Honoka, Umi, and Kotori's first mission!

    "Wow, there are so many choices," Kotori said, looking at the mission board. Nozomi and Eli told her and her partners there'd be a wide selection, but she had no idea it would be this much. Every single posting on that board was a Kishin egg that was currently terrorizing someplace somewhere in the world. An abomination that by all means should never have existed. Even if they were to defeat one, many lives would likely be saved. It was not really likely Umi could take enough missions to make Honoka and Kotori both into Death Scythes by the time they all graduated unless all they did until then was take missions. But then their grades would slip and they would probably get held back.

    "We should get all of them," Honoka suggested.

    "No," Umi replied. "Why would you... no," she said. "We have to pick _one_."

    "Geez, Umi-chan, I was only joking," Honoka said. "Maybe that one?" she asked, pointing at a posting that read  _ "WITCH AT LARGE: Sachiko Tanaka, wanted for endangering the populace with reckless use of magic. Last spotted just outside of Tokyo" _ , and showed a police sketch of a girl around their age with silver pigtails, bangs covering her right eye, and a sly grin.

    "Honoka-chan, that's a witch," Kotori replied. "We can't fight witches just yet, we'll all die."

    "I guess you're right," Honoka sighed. "But just outside Tokyo, Tokyo's where all our families live. I just hope she isn't doing anything to hurt them."

    "Don't worry, Honoka, the East Asia branch of DWMA will intervene if things get too serious," Umi replied. "For now we have to take something that's at our level."

    "Hmm," Kotori said to herself, looking through the postings again. There were not really any locally, almost all of them were for overseas missions.  _ Shouldn't the other branches be handling these? _ Kotori thought.  _ But then again, we wouldn't be getting any choices if they did. _

    "What about this one?" Umi asked, pointing to another posting.  _ "A Kishin Egg spawned from a spree killer, name unknown, has been wreaking havoc on tourists at old Anglo-Saxon ruins in England. Best engaged with ranged weapons," _ she read.

    "We're ranged weapons!" Honoka exclaimed, grabbing Kotori's hands.

    "Mhm! And I have no doubt Umi-chan'll be able to take it out, after all, she was pretty good at fighting the Traitors last Halloween," Kotori replied.

    "Oh, come on, Kotori, that was nearly a year ago," Umi said, acting modest. "But we're still all in agreement, right? We're taking this one?"

    "Yeah!" Honoka and Kotori replied.

 

    Kotori, Honoka, and Umi ended up picking that mission and after a farewell to the rest of μ's, they were taking the first flight out. It was late out when the three of them arrived, so they checked in at the nearest motel to stay the night and be as rested as they could be for the next morning. But the time difference skipped them eight hours ahead, and once they settled down, they could barely sleep. This proved to be a problem, especially for Honoka.

    "Kotori-chan, Umi-chan..." Honoka began. "I know it's dark out and the lights are off, but I feel like it's like three in the afternoon."

    Kotori turned around to look at just how perky Honoka still was lying next to her. And she wasn't laying down. Honoka was sitting up, and eating a piece of bread, probably from a vending machine or something. Umi sat up from the other bed and gave Honoka a stern look.

    "Honoka, you're going to get crumbs all over you and Kotori's bed," Umi said.

    "Fine, I'll eat it sitting on the floor," Honoka replied, getting out of bed and sitting down on the rug. She took a few more bites of her bread before pausing for a second to speck. "Hey, if the Kishin egg's been attacking tourists, wouldn't it be better if we went to get it right now so that the tourists tomorrow won't get attacked?"

    "Honoka-chan, I'm super jet lagged," Kotori said. "Besides, the ruins are closed to tourists until the Kishin egg is dealt with."

    "I'm jet lagged too," Umi added, laying back down. "And admittedly a bit curious about how are you NOT."

    "I dunno," Honoka replied, finishing up her bread and getting back in bed with Kotori. "Okay, gotta try and sleep."

    "Good night, Honoka-chan," Kotori said. She turned back around and closed her eyes.  _ Okay, time to sleep, _ Kotori thought. She lay still for what felt like a long while, still wide awake. Honoka occasionally muttering "gotta try and sleep" again did not help. And neither did the soft "whump" from Umi throwing her bed's second pillow at Honoka to get her to quiet down.

    "Oh, is it a pillow fight you want?" Honoka asked, throwing the pillow right back at Umi. It thankfully hit the wall.

    "I'd accept your challenge if I wasn't jetlagged," Umi replied. Kotori sighed with relief. Honoka and Umi pillow fighting would not be a soft battle, especially if the two were both fully awake. Honoka's energy and determination, coupled with Umi's accuracy and tenacity...  chaos. There'd be no way Kotori would sleep through _ that _ . 

    "It was your challenge, Umi-chan, but okay," Honoka muttered to herself as she lay back down.

    "What was that?" Umi asked.

    "Good night, Umi-chan," Honoka replied, pulling the covers up to her chin. And with that, Kotori assumed there would be calm. Finally, she could sleep.

 

    And after only a few hours, Umi's alarm went off. Kotori was still pretty tired, but she felt rested enough when she awoke, so she slowly got out of bed, stretching out her arms as she sat up. Umi was right up and running, she even looked ready to go. Her hair was even tied in a loose low ponytail and everything. And Honoka... Honoka was still laying facedown on the bed. Her leg was even sticking out of the covers, dangling off the bed and everything.

    "Five more minutes," she said.

    "Weren't you the one who wanted to get up and get this done?" Umi asked, walking over to Honoka. "Come on, Honoka," she said with a much sweeter tone. "Wake up."

    Honoka groaned a bit, before rising. She coughed a few times and re-tied her partial side ponytail with a hair tie, before adding her trademark yellow ribbon.

    "Are you okay?" Kotori asked.

    "Yeah," Honoka replied, pulling out a tissue. "It's just morning stuff, Yukiho and I get it all the time." She then spit out a rather large chunk of phlegm into the tissue. Kotori recoiled a bit in disgust.  _ No, no, that's probably normal for Honoka-chan, _ she thought. Kotori sometimes got a little phlegmy in the morning, but never this much.  _ Honoka-chan's not sick, she'd tell us if she was. This is probably just allergies. I should go look for my hairbrush. _

    "Okay, the bus leaves in an hour, so we've got plenty of time to get ready," Umi said.

    "Oh, we're going by bus?" Kotori asked. "Sounds fun!"

 

    After a twenty-five minute ride, they got off at the closest bus stop to the ruins just before ten o'clock. Kotori looked at a map to see that they were only a few kilometers away. Which meant that some walking was definitely in order.

    "A few... kilometers?" Honoka asked.

    "Yes," Kotori replied.

    "Why couldn't there have been a bus stop right by the ruins?" Honoka asked. "It's supposed to be a tourist spot, isn't it?"

    "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about that right now," Umi sighed, walking over next to Kotori to look at the map. Umi traced her finger along some streets to try and find the shortest and easiest route to get to the ruins. Kotori was kind of distracted by the motion. Umi did it so elegantly. And then Kotori and Umi were both startled by Honoka suddenly grabbing the top of the map. She leaned over to look at them.

    "Are you girls picking out a route?" Honoka asked. She tapped a simple little side street that would take them right to where the ruins were. "We should take that one."

    "That was just the route I was about to suggest," Umi replied.

    "Me too!" Kotori chimed in. "Wow, we all thought alike this time."

    "You say that like it's surprising," Honoka said. "Wait, we don't really all think THAT different, do we? I mean, you two and I all have plenty of personality differences, but when it comes down to it, we have enough of the same core values that I wouldn't think we'd usually... ah, where was I going with this?"

    Kotori giggled.

    "Honoka-chan, it's okay if you ramble," she said. "I know you mean well."

    Honoka let go of the map and set her hands to her sides.

    "Thanks, Kotori-chan," she said. "Okay, let's start walking!"

 

    The little street they took began in part of the town, a few houses and shops dotting along its sides. Before long, it went out into the countryside, buildings making way for grass, grass, and more grass. With the occasional tree here and there, but mostly just grass. There was no sidewalk by this point, so Umi and Kotori watched out for cars, letting Honoka run mostly carefree alongside the road. Honoka stayed close to them, even grabbing Kotori's hand to try and get her to run with her. She gave in and joined her. It would be good to have a little fun before they got to the serious part of the mission. Besides, they trusted Umi to watch for cars. They knew she would never let anything bad happen to them. 

 

    It took another half hour from that point for the three to reach the site for the ruins. As expected, the ruins were closed to tourists, but there was still an employee standing by the site's entrance. He appeared to be waiting for Kotori and the others specifically, and waved them over when he saw them.

    "Are you three the ones DWMA sent?" the employee asked.

    "Yes," Umi replied. "My name is Umi Sonoda, and these two are Honoka Kousaka and Kotori Minami."

    Kotori and Honoka waved.

    "Nice to meet you three, my name is Roger," the employee said.

    "It's nice to meet you too, Roger," Umi replied.

    "Hey, Roger, where was the Kishin egg last seen?" Honoka asked.

    "Up down by the ruins themselves," Roger replied. "I can walk you girls there if you'd like."

    "Thank you very much, but we don't want to endanger any civilians on our hunt," Umi said. "We'll return soon enough to tell you when we take out the Kishin egg, okay?"

    "Okay then," Roger replied. "Good luck with your hunt!"

    "Thanks, Roger!" Honoka said, waving goodbye to him as Umi began to lead her and Kotori down the trail. 

 

    Kotori looked around at her surroundings. It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day, and the grass around her was tall and in that in-between stage where some of it was all dried out but some of it was still its usual summertime green. A brisk little breeze blew the grass about, fluttering through Kotori's hair. Umi and Honoka's hair blew nicely in the wind too, Honoka's especially complementing the landscape well. Kotori smiled.  _ I am so lucky to have such lovely friends, _ Kotori thought.  _ Honoka-chan's so fun and energetic, and Umi-chan's so cool and strong, aah, I'm just so glad to be with them every day. _

    "Kotori, you look like you're spacing out," Umi said.

    "I was thinking about how pretty it is out and how much I love you guys," Kotori replied, blushing a bit out of embarrassment. Honoka threw her arms around Kotori, giving her a big hug.

    "I love you too, Kotori-chan!" she exclaimed. She hugged Kotori for a few more seconds before letting go. "I'm sure our friendship's gonna strengthen our resonance and help us take out the Kishin egg in one shot. That's how it works, right, Umi-chan?"

    "Resonance strength primarily deals with wavelength compatibility," Umi replied, jumping a bit at a rustle in the grass, before finding out that it was just a little bird flying out of there. "Oh, that startled me. Anyway, like I was saying, resonance is normally a wavelength thing, but we're all strongly compatible, and I think our bond is part of that."

    Umi, Kotori, and Honoka kept walking along the trail, watching the grass carefully for any rustling that could indicate a Kishin egg. So far, it seemed like the bird that startled Umi earlier was the only thing noticeably out and about in the grass. Which made sense, since it was mid-autumn and all the wildlife was finishing up its plans for winter. How many little creatures would be hibernating? How many birds would be migrating? What would still be roaming about in the months ahead? When would Kotori and the others find the one thing roaming about that they were looking for?

    "Honoka, Kotori, transform," Umi calmly said. Kotori didn't see any rustling or anything about, until she looked straight ahead to see a man's silhouette, but it did not look like it was from a normal man at all. He was two-point-three meters tall with overly-muscled arms, his skin was an ashy gray, and he was not wearing a shirt. Kotori knew right away that was the Kishin egg, she did not need Soul Perception to see that. And she transformed, wrapping herself snugly around Umi's torso. Arrows manifested from her quiver, and Kotori looked around to her new surroundings. 

    In weapon form, all she could see around her was her own figure tinted with bright silver, and the blackness of her soul space. She could hear and faintly sense what was going on outside, but as her quiver was made of fabric and not metal, she could not reflect and get the full view.  _ Honoka-chan isn't here yet, _ Kotori thought. Having Honoka around to keep her company in weapon form was a major perk of this partnership setup, since she could not fully see the outside. Honoka's weapon form lacked metal as well, so it was not like she could fully see out either. An orange light appeared in Kotori's soul space, manifesting into Honoka's form.

    "Shh, Umi-chan's gonna take the shot," Honoka said. They both heard Umi take a deep breath as she drew Honoka out, before releasing her string, an arrow flying towards its target.

    "I felt a stick!" Kotori whispered. "In... the ground?"

    "Aww, Umi-chan missed?" Honoka asked.

    "It's not that I missed, it's that the Kishin egg's body vanished into smoke," Umi replied. "And I see... three more appearing?" she asked, diving into the grass. "This is bad. It has the ability to create near-perfect illusionary duplicates!"

    "No wonder they said to engage with ranged weapons," Kotori said. "A whole bunch of those could overwhelm a melee fighter and prove fatal if they went for the wrong one."

    "I don't see where it could be generating them from," Umi said. "If I could only take out the source, we could have this over and done with before... whatever our next meal is going to be."

    "Confused by the time zone shift?" Kotori asked.

    "Yeah, my internal clock's pretty messed up," Umi replied. Honoka yawned, almost as if to show solidarity among those with screwy systems. "But don't worry, you two, it won't affect my shooting," Umi said, pushing some grass down with her foot to make room to fire another arrow. She got down on one knee to steady herself, and drew Honoka back at the three Kishin egg figures. She fired, and Kotori could feel the arrow hitting the ground again. Kotori made that arrow vanish along with the one from the other miss.

    "Neither of the others ran away or even flinched," Umi said, getting up and running towards the two that remained. "These are both illusions!" she shouted.

    "Umi-chan, careful swinging me around like that!" Honoka exclaimed as Umi used her to dispel the two illusions.

    "Sorry about that... wait, I just saw something or someone move over by the ruins themself," Umi said. "Kotori, Honoka, I think we've found our real target."

 

    Umi carefully made her way over towards the ruins, watching for the Kishin egg every step she took. Since Kotori didn't hear Umi drawing her bow or firing, she assumed she hadn't found it.

    "These ruins are pretty open," Umi said. "Just a few stone arches and parts of walls. Not much of a place to hide."

    "Umi-chan, is there any place you can shoot from?" Honoka asked. There was no reply for a few seconds. Umi-chan seems to be looking around, Kotori thought.

    "There looks like a good spot a few meters away," Umi replied, walking over to that spot. "And there he is," she said, drawing her bow and taking the shot. Kotori felt the arrow sailing through the air and sticking in the ground. Umi groaned in frustration. "He saw us coming!" Umi exclaimed, crouching back. Kotori could feel herself press against one of the walls. Umi took out one of the arrows from the quiver, probably to stab the Kishin egg with once it got too close.

    "Hey, Kotori-chan?" Honoka asked. "If Umi-chan stabs the Kishin egg with an arrow you get its soul by default, okay?"

    "Oh, that's right," Kotori replied. "Only one of us gets the soul. But if she doesn't stab it, who..."

    "Girls, this is not the time!" Umi shouted, getting up and attempting to stab the Kishin egg. The arrow went into his shoulder, and he ripped it right out of there. Kotori made it vanish right before he could use it against Umi. Umi began to run away from him for a few steps, getting out another arrow.

    "Umi-chan, he's chasing us!" Kotori exclaimed.

    "I know that!" Umi replied. "That's why I'm gonna stab him in the throat."

    The Kishin egg ran right up to Umi, flinging his arm aside to try and knock her over. She dodged the first time and jammed the arrow into his forearm, but she was soon kicked over to the ground. She must have dropped Honoka on the way down, since Honoka then vanished in Kotori's soul space.  _ Honoka-chan must've landed too far from me, _ Kotori thought. _ Oh, I hope she doesn't get stepped on or anything. Wait, I can't feel Umi-chan moving. _

    "Umi-chan?" Kotori asked. "UMI-CHAN, GET UP! GET UP! _ UMI-CHAN! _ "

    "Nng," Umi groaned, stirring a bit. Umi loudly gasped, grabbing an arrow in her hand. The Kishin egg must have gone after her. Umi stabbed him in the leg with the arrow and rolled off to the side while he was distracted. She got up to her feet and ran over to where she dropped Honoka. "Wait, I thought I dropped her around here, where's Hono... HONOKA!" Umi shouted.

    "I've got it!" Honoka exclaimed, yanking the arrow out of the Kishin egg's leg and dodging his attempts to punch and kick her. "Kotori-chan, don't make this arrow vanish just yet," she said. Honoka stabbed the Kishin egg in the side of his torso and turned to run back to Umi. She got hit in the shoulder and knocked down.

    "Honoka!"

    "Honoka-chan!"

    The Kishin egg leaned over Honoka, his fists balled up and almost ready to punch her in the face. But Honoka was not scared at all. She just transformed again, sailing right into Umi's hand. Honoka reappeared in Kotori's soul space with an eager expression. She gave Kotori a thumbs-up. Kotori just returned with a nervous giggle.  _ That sure was reckless of her. _

    "We have to pull back to a safer range!" Umi said, beginning to run away. "This guy can throw us and knock us down like we're made of straw, he's taking our stabs like they're nothing, and I...I need time to draw my bow accurately, which is difficult up close."

    "Psst, Kotori-chan," Honoka whispered. "I'm shaking in her hands," she said.  _ Come on, Umi-chan, hang in there, _ Kotori thought.

    "Crap, he's following us!" Umi shouted. "Crap, crap, crap!" she exclaimed, trying to fumble for an arrow while running. Kotori manifested a few extra so she wouldn't have to worry as much. She thought about commenting on Umi's language, but figured it would be excusable in this instance. Umi tried to draw her bow while running, which... admittedly looked a whole lot easier in movies. Arrows were dropped. But thankfully for the trio, the Kishin egg slipped on one of them and fell to the ground. Umi took this opportunity to disappear off in the grass.

 

    Umi sat down, panting from all that running she just did. And she set Honoka down on the ground.

    "Honoka, Kotori, you two can return to human form, I think it's safe enough for now," Umi said. Honoka immediately returned to human form. Kotori hesitated for a second, wondering whether this really was a good idea. But she returned to human form anyway.

    "Umi-chan," she softly said. She looked at Umi, and how she was clutching her side from the kick earlier. "Umi-chan, you aren't hurt, are you?"

    "It's not serious, it'll just be a bruise," Umi replied.

    "What were you thinking?" Honoka loudly asked, surprising both Umi and Kotori. "Umi-chan, you could've stopped and killed the Kishin egg when he tripped."

    Umi had that look on her face that signified just how aware she was of that mistake.

    "Shoot," she said.

    "Yeah, you could've shot him," Kotori replied. "But we did wound him a bunch, if anything, the bleeding should definitely have weakened him by the time he finds us again."

    "Let's hope," Umi said, getting up. She seemed to be weighing a few tactics in her head. "Kotori, Honoka, when you next transform, I think we should resonate."

    "Resonate?" Honoka asked. "But we've never tried out our resonance attack before, what are we even going to call it?"

    "Umi-chan seems to have had an idea," Kotori added, shooting Umi a sly grin. Umi blushed.

    "We can't use that phrase, it's embarrassing," Umi said.

    "Oh,  _ that _ phrase!" Honoka said. "I actually thought that it works perfect for our attack name."

    "It does not," Umi replied. "Any other suggestions?" Silence on both Kotori and Honoka's ends. Umi buried her face in the palms of her hands and took a deep breath. She lowered her palms, still holding them together. "Okay, fine, just this once. But we are  _ definitely _ renaming this after we get back to DWMA, understand?"

    "You'll grow to like it, Umi-chan," Kotori said. She and Honoka winked at each other, before hearing a rustle in the grass.

    "Hurry, transform!" Umi exclaimed. Kotori and Honoka transformed into their respective weapon forms, Kotori wrapping her quiver strap around Umi's torso, Honoka going right into Umi's hands for her to hold. "Okay, we'll do it on three," Umi said.

    "One..." Honoka began.

    "Two..." Kotori continued.

    "Three!" Umi exclaimed.

    "SOUL RESONANCE!" all three girls shouted. All three's thoughts and wavelengths became in tune, and Kotori and Honoka could see everything going on outside through Umi. Honoka's weapon form changed from a plain-looking bow to a much larger glowing one, an orange eye adorning its top. Kotori's quiver began to glow silver, and her arrows became larger and sharper. Umi pulled one of the silvery-blue arrows from the quiver, and set it at the bow. Once she drew the string back, two extra tips split off from the edge of the arrow, one orange and one pure white. Umi stepped down on the grass in front of her, revealing the unsuspecting Kishin egg out on the path in front of them. Umi took a deep breath.

    "Love arrow... SHOOT!" she said, releasing the arrow. As it sailed through the air, the white and orange tips blended in with the silvery-blue main arrow to create a tricolor arrow that pierced right through the Kishin egg's heart. He looked down at the arrow for a second, his blank white eyes in utter shock, before he vanished into black ribbons, leaving behind only his soul. 

 

    The arrow that was imbued with all three girls' strength and resonance faded away into orange, blue, and silver sparkles; Honoka and Kotori's weapon forms returning to normal soon after. Honoka and Kotori themselves then returned to human form and approached the soul.

    "This is it," Honoka said.

    "The first soul we got as a trio," Kotori added.

    "Which one of you is going to eat it?" Umi asked.

    "I wish we could split it in half," Honoka replied. "But... I really think Kotori-chan should have it."

    "No, no, Honoka-chan, you should have it," Kotori said. "After all, you're the bow, and I'm just a quiver."

    "But without a quiver full of arrows, a bow is useless," Honoka argued.

    "Hang on, let me see if I have a coin to flip," Umi sighed.

    "No, if we're gonna make decisions like that, rock-paper-scissors is way more fun!" Honoka said, holding out her palm and setting her fist on top of it.  _ Oh, are we playing Rock-Paper-Scissors for our first soul? _ Kotori thought.  _ Well, why not? _

    Kotori put out her palm and fist in the same manner as Honoka.

    "First comes 'Love'... rock, paper, scissors!" Honoka and Kotori said in unison.

    Honoka threw scissors,while Kotori had thrown rock. Honoka looked genuinely distraught.  _ Perhaps she was just trying to seem modest earlier, _ Kotori thought, cupping the soul in her hands. At first glance, it looked much bigger than her mouth could ever open to. Maybe I should... take bites from it? Kotori tried to take a bite out of the soul like it was an apple, but all it did was squish into her teeth like if she was squeezing a giant marshmallow in her hands. Umi strained to hold back laughter.

    "Cram it in!" Honoka said. Umi stopped straining Kotori became admittedly self-conscious, but she decided to take Honoka's advice and use her hand to try and cram the soul in her mouth, while attempting to swallow it. It was pretty much flavorless, and slipped down her throat whole. Kotori belched a little bit, relieved that it didn't trigger her gag reflex due to the sheer size.

    "Whew, I have  _ got _ to ask Nozomi-chan what the best way to do that is," Kotori said.

    "Come on, let's go tell Roger the good news," Umi said.


	11. I want to be closer friends with Eli... wait, there was an attack in Italy?!

    Honoka noticed something at the party μ's held when she came back from her first mission. Sure, everyone was celebrating, and Rin bought a cake, but Eli seemed just... distant. When everyone gathered around to hear Kotori telling the story of how the mission went, Eli sat at the edge of the circle, farthest away from Honoka. When Hanayo was cutting up the cake for everyone, Honoka was the first and Eli was the last to take a slice. All throughout the party, Eli always seemed the furthest from Honoka. She was not completely distant, they did have one conversation where Honoka was asking her advice about what to do on future missions, so it was not like Eli was completely ignoring her. But it still bothered Honoka. She warmed up just fine with Rin, with Hanayo, with Nico, with Nozomi, even with Maki. But Eli... it seemed her relationship with Eli just was not as close. To Honoka, Eli started as a cool upperclassman, and a leader. But now that everyone's in EAT, she wanted to fully become her friend.

    "Honoka, why are you bringing this up in class?" Umi whispered.

    "It was bugging me," Honoka replied.

    "Honoka-chan, we're going to get in trouble," Kotori whispered. "We can go over to the mission board with everyone later today and talk to her then."

    "Okay," Honoka sighed.

 

    And as soon as class was over, to the mission board they went. The rest of μ's (save for Rin and Hanayo, who were going on an after-school date to Deathbucks) was there as well, A-RISE soon joining them.

    "Oh no..." Eli said, looking at some of the postings. Honoka could not tell which one she was specifically looking at, but around the general vicinity was one already marked to be taken.  _ Okay, this is the perfect time to step in, _ Honoka thought.

    "What's wrong?" Honoka asked.

    "Honoka, do you see that mission up there?" Eli asked, pointing to the taken one. "That was for the killer Sonson J in Italy. Nozomi and I were going to take that one, but as you can see, it appears someone got to it first. Probably shouldn't have waited until after you came back to try and take it."

    "I see," Honoka replied, feeling a bit guilty about that. (even though that choice was entirely Eli's decision) "Well, there's always another one on the board, isn't there? Fight on!"

    Eli smiled, before turning to look over her left shoulder at Nozomi, or rather, where Nozomi stood just a moment ago.

    "Nozomi?" Eli asked. "Where'd she go off to?"

    "She's over by the receptionist," Honoka replied, pointing her out. Nozomi, as if on cue, then turned around and waved goodbye to the receptionist as she walked back to Eli and Honoka.

    "Yeah, it is already taken," Nozomi said. "By a pair of students named Maka Albarn and Soul Eater. They've already left, and are probably there right now, maybe even on their way back. Such a shame, I really wanted to go sightseeing."

    "And catch a killer?" Eli asked.

    "Yeah, that too," Nozomi replied, before looking back down at Honoka. "Oh, Honoka-chan. You guys just got back two days ago, are you sure you already want to do another mission?"

    "Actually..." Honoka realized she had no way to say this without sounding weird or clingy. "Yeah, you're right, Umi-chan and Kotori-chan wouldn't want to miss that many more class days in a row, and we're still a bit jetlagged from the flight back."

    "Well, we'll be off on our way," Eli said. "Nozomi, you promised Nico that if the mission wasn't open that you were gonna help her with Soul Studies?" she asked.

    "Yeah, since the Ultimate Written Exam's not too far off," Nozomi added. And with that, Nico flagged Nozomi and Eli both down, and they walked over to join her and Maki on a walk back to the dorms. Honoka glanced over at A-RISE as they scanned the mission board, before walking back over to Kotori.

    "Where's Umi-chan?" Honoka asked.

    "Bathroom," Kotori replied. "You know, you didn't seem that off talking with Eli-chan. She probably is just like the rest of μ's."

    "No, I swear she's more distant," Honoka said. "But if I'm wrong, I'm gonna buy everyone in μ's a piece of bread from the school store every day for a month, deal?"

    "Okay, deal," Kotori replied.  _ Of course. Nobody would ever say no to something as good as free bread, _ Honoka thought. _ I should know. Well, the school store's bread is nowhere near as good as Homura Bakery's, but... no, Honoka, don't you get yourself homesick, you already have Eli-chan to worry about! _

    Umi soon came back from the bathroom. And she, Honoka, and Kotori, having nothing more they needed to do at school, returned to the dorms for the evening.

 

    Class the next day seemed like it was going to go just like normal. Everyone in μ's all took a block of seats near each other like normal. Honoka, Kotori, and Umi sat with Nico and Maki, while Rin and Hanayo sat with Nozomi and Eli in the row in front of them. And right front and center sat A-RISE, just how they liked it. But the first hint at how a day like today was going to go came from Nygus as she came in. She did not have her usual aura of a strong teacher, in fact, she seemed more down.

    "Hey, Umi-chan, what's with Nygus-sensei?" Honoka asked.

    "I don't know," Umi replied. "If she wants to talk about it, I guess she will. Let's not bother her."

    "Man," Nozomi began. "I haven't seen Nygus-sensei so down since Sid-sensei died the first ti-"

    Nozomi didn't finish her sentence, instead looking right by the door, as another faculty member entered the room. Spirit Albarn, DWMA's resident Death Scythe and Lord Death's right hand weapon at only thirty-two. He was carrying two pieces of paper in his hands, before setting them both on the teacher's desk.

    "So how are we gonna do this?" he asked. "Yesterday a few rumors were already circulating, maybe they already know?"

    "They should know more than just those little rumors," Nygus replied, before looking up and facing the class. She took a deep breath. "I'm sure you all heard of the recent attack."

_ Attack? _ Honoka thought.  _ What attack? Where? Who? When? Why? _

    "Yeah, I heard that it happened to a weapon named Soul Eater," a boy on the other side of the classroom said.

    "It did," Spirit replied. "In Italy, right after he and his meister, Maka Albarn, who happens to be my daughter, took out the killer Sonson J, they went over to the Santa Maria Novella Basilica, and were attacked by a meister and weapon not affiliated with the DWMA. The weapon is known as the Demon Sword Ragnarok, and his meister is just known as the Demon Swordmaster for now, I don't remember if I caught their name or not, since everything was just kinda... happening."

    "Soul Eater was near-fatally injured trying to protect Maka Albarn, and is currently in the nurse's office recovering," Nygus added. "Due to the efforts of Dr. Stein, he is expected to make a full recovery in time, despite the large gash on his chest."

    "Dr. Stein and I were able to enter the basilica right on time and defeat the Demon Swordmaster," Spirit said. "Stein was about to finish them off, when a witch revealed herself and took them away before he could. Instead of going after them, we decided to bring Maka and Soul back to DWMA. Oh, and for anyone that might be worried, Maka's fine, she wasn't seriously hurt or anything, it was just Soul that got hurt."

    Several hands among the class shot up.

    "Yes, Miss Yuuki?" Nygus asked, calling on Anju first.

    "What does the witch look like?" Anju asked.

    "I don't fully know, it was too dark out to see her face," Spirit replied. "But she had what appeared to be snake-themed magic."

    "Why were they at the basilica in the first place?" Maki asked.

    "Because Miss Albarn reportedly saw fifty human souls vanish in a near-instant, leaving only the Demon Sword and his meister, and as a DWMA student, Miss Albarn felt she had to investigate," Nygus replied. "Those fifty humans reportedly belonged to people who were all murdered by the Demon Swordmaster just barely before Miss Albarn and Soul Eater arrived."

_ Fifty murders in an instant? _ Honoka thought, hearing Kotori gasp.  _ How is that possible? _

    "Can you give us any more information on the Demon Sword and/or the Demon Swordmaster?" Tsubasa asked. Nygus picked up the two pieces of paper that Spirit had brought in earlier when he entered the room, turning them around to reveal what looked to be sketches.

    "The Demon Swordmaster is somewhere around the 5'4" to 5'6" range in height, has pale skin and lavender hair, and they are noticeably underweight," Spirit replied. "And in his weapon form, the Demon Sword appears to be a broadsword. While not in his weapon form, the Demon Sword is physically attached to his meister's back."

    A few people gasped in horror.

    "I couldn't catch his exact height, but he is  _ huge _ , muscular, and has no form below the waist. After that point, he is embedded in his meister's veins."

    "Veins?" Honoka gasped.

    "Yes, veins," Spirit replied. "We believe that the Demon Sword is part of a strange synthetic black blood that we previously have never encountered. This black blood is able to harden at the meister and/or weapon's will, acting as an impenetrable defense. And when spilled, it can turn into a deadly weapon in and of itself, being able to harden into sharp spikes that could possibly be lethal if they impale through the right part of you. That's all we know about it for now."

    "Due to the threat of the Demon Sword and Demon Swordmaster, all missions are henceforth to be taken with groups containing at least two armed meisters," Nygus added. "This is an order from Lord Death himself, and our receptionist will not let any one meister/weapon pair go on missions alone from this point forward."

    Nygus kept going on about safety or whatever, but Honoka just could not pay attention to that now, all she could focus on was the part where pairs of meisters and weapons could no longer go alone.  _ No longer going alone... that means Umi-chan, Kotori-chan, and I could take a mission with Nozomi-chan and Eli-chan! And if we took a mission together, I can find out what the distance between Eli-chan and I really is, and then we can bond over our mission and she and I could finally become closer friends! This is wonderful! Well, not that the attack happened, that really sucks, but the group missions! _

    "I will now be passing around these sketches our artist made of the Demon Sword and the Demon Swordmaster, based off descriptions Spirit and Dr. Stein gave," Nygus said, handing the sketches to the boy on the other side of the classroom, the one who chimed in earlier. "Take a good look at these, and pass them along to the kids next to you. Make sure everybody gets to see these."

    "Hey, hey, Umi-chan," Honoka sorta whispered.

    "What is it?" Umi asked.

    "Did you hear what Nygus-sensei said? That we have to go on missions with another meister and weapon now?" Honoka asked, unable to contain her excitement.

    "Yes, I heard," Umi replied.

    "Well, this is my chance!" Honoka said. Umi just looked at her, confused. "Now Eli-chan and I can bond over a mission or two, and I won't have to worry about whether or not she and I are as close as we are with the others, and this is basically the best thing ever!"

    "Honoka, someone nearly died," Umi replied. "A DWMA student  _ nearly died _ , and all you can think about are these worries you created over Eli?"

    When Umi put it like that, Honoka really thought she must have seemed horribly selfish. I _ f only Umi-chan could see what's inside my head... maybe I could resonate with her? No, I'm not sure they allow that in class, do they? It's not anything inappropriate, so I wouldn't think... _

    "And look at Eli, she's almost crying," Umi whispered, discreetly gesturing to Eli. Eli was shaking, her lower lip was trembling, and she pulled a hand up to her eyes, almost as if she was wiping out the beginnings of tears. Nozomi put a hand on her shoulder and started to lightly stroke it, while Hanayo reached over to Eli's other hand and held it for support.

    "Eli-chan, are you okay?" Honoka asked. Eli looked up at her.  _ Yup, she's crying, _ Honoka thought.

    "Honoka, do I look okay?" Eli asked in return. Honoka shook her head no. "Sorry, I... I really have to regain my composure, don't I? We're in class."

    "It's okay," Honoka replied. "I'm here if you need me."

    "Thank you," Eli said, as Erena handed Nozomi the sketches. Nozomi and Eli looked at them together for a bit, before handing them to Hanayo and Rin. Eli looked at Nozomi in disbelief. Now Honoka was really curious, even more than she was before.

    "That's what they look like?" Hanayo gasped.

    "I'm definitely not going to forget that face," Rin said. Hanayo handed Rin the other sketch, and Rin stood up in front of Honoka. "Here are the sketches, nya," she said. Honoka took the sketches and set them out in front of her, Kotori, and Umi. She could feel the plastic-y texture that came from the sketches being laminated, probably to prevent the pencil from being smudged from all this handling.

    "Thanks, Rin-chan," Honoka replied, before looking at the sketches. The piece of paper on the left was labeled  _ "Demon Swordmaster" _ , and the sketch was of a wide-eyed androgynous kid with unkempt hair, a nose that looked wonky from multiple unset breakages, and an oddly long neck. Most shockingly to Honoka, the kid looked about thirteen or fourteen years old.  _ That kid's Yukiho's age, _ Honoka thought, her eyes widening in horror upon realizing this. Someone her little sister's age being at such a high threat level that they would change the way DWMA does soul collection missions seemed to be quite an unlikely thought, but there was the evidence, right in front of her, in the form of a police-style sketch. Honoka looked over at the sketch on the right, labeled  _ "Demon Sword Ragnarok" _ . He only looked vaguely human, unlike his meister, and that was only in the general shape of his head and shoulders. His face was something entirely different, mostly taken up by a large white "X". And between the corners of the "X", on its left and right sides, were two eyes that looked like crudely marked-on ping-pong balls, marked with little x's of their own. No nose, no visible mouth, no ears, no other facial features or anything. Just the "X" and the eyes.  _ This must've been the face Rin-chan said she wouldn't be able to forget, _ Honoka thought.  _ Compared to the meister, who's so plain... _

    "Hey, pass those over already!" Nico said.

    "Nico, you need to be more patient," Umi replied, handing Nico the sketches.

    "Umi-chan, do you think we'll find them out and about on a mission?" Kotori whispered, her voice shaking. "If they see us first, we're dead."

    "Don't worry, Kotori," Umi replied. "It's a big world out there, with billions of people. The odds that we'd run into these two are pretty slim."

    Kotori seemed reassured at first, so Honoka looked back at Eli. She had her face in her hands. For some reason, Eli seemed to be the one in class most affected by the news of the attack. Honoka couldn't quite place why. Maybe Eli knew the victim? Honoka brushed that off. No, she would have definitely remembered if Eli was friends with someone with such a ridiculous stage name as Soul Eater. At least she hoped it was a stage name, because she remembered Rin showing her a listicle on one of the school library's computers titled  _ "Top Ten Strangest Baby Names in America" _ or something, and Soul Eater wasn't even as weird as some of those. (Number Five shocked her) So why? Why was Eli so distraught over this?

    "Once you guys are done passing around those sketches, I'm going to take them to the class next door and give them the news," Spirit said. "So whenever you're done, I can collect them."

 

    Honoka  _ absolutely _ could not pay attention in class that day. She was not alone, almost everyone was nervous and curious about the attack. And now that they got a lot more of the details, the "rumors", that were no longer such, spread like wildfire. By the end of the school day, there was not even a single soul who did not know what happened that day at the Santa Maria Novella Basilica.

    "Honoka, you seem like you're just  _ itching _ to talk about this," Nico said.

    "Yeah, I am," Honoka replied. "Do you think any of us would be able to take them in a fight?" she asked. Rin and Hanayo immediately looked at each other

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Maki said. "Wasn't Maka Albarn nearly able to forge her partner into a Death Scythe? And they've both been in EAT for years. They have way more experience than all of μ's  _ combined _ ."

    "I'm the number one meister in DWMA, and unlike the two of them, I have a  _ gun _ ," Nico replied, putting an arm around Maki. Maki glanced over at Nico for a bit. Nico looked confident, but there was something in her expression that seemed as if otherwise. "I... I can just shoot them with our resonance attack, the 'Nico-Nico Love Nico Blast'."

    "Maki, for your sake, don't let her name any more attacks," Eli said. She paused for a second. "I have to use the bathroom," she added, walking away from the group. Honoka wondered if she should follow Eli right now.  _ Maybe she left because she couldn't handle this for some reason? _ Honoka thought.  _ But then again, she could actually have to go, which would make it kinda awkward to follow her. _

    "Umi-chan, do you think we could beat them?" Kotori asked.

    "Only if we used the 'Love Arrow Shoot' straight away and they didn't see us first," Umi replied. "Or I'm dead."

    Honoka forced herself to laugh.  _ Umi-chan has to be making one of those jokes like the Death Children do. She has to. She doesn't even think we'd run into them. _

    "Umi-chan..." Honoka said. "That's too funny."

    "Honoka, I'm being serious," Umi replied. "A single archer against a swordsman would not work at close range in the slightest. And that kid's so plain-looking it'll probably be at that point before we even notice it's them."

    "Y'know, if we fought the Demon Swordmaster, Elicchi and I would probably have to have some assistance," Nozomi said. "I'd probably just end up sacrificing myself just like Soul Eater did." 

    And with that, Honoka just  _ knew _ . Knew exactly why Eli left the conversation.

    "I have to go to the bathroom, too," Honoka announced, maybe a bit louder than she should have. She walked off in the exact direction Eli did.  _ I have to find her! _ Honoka thought.  _ Eli-chan must have known exactly what Nozomi-chan was saying. Who knows where she could be, or what state she's in? _

 

    Honoka ran through corridor after corridor. DWMA was never a school for those who wanted convenient, non-confusing layouts, so Eli must have been hidden off somewhere off in who knows where. Honoka made her way back to her old NOT classroom and opened the door. Before closing it, realizing that she and Eli were never classmates back in NOT. There was no way Eli would be in here. She looked around.  _ I wonder if Eli-chan's old NOT classroom was in this area? _ Honoka thought, looking around some more, until she found a room that Nico said used to be her classroom before she and Maki became partners. And Nico was classmates with Eli and Nozomi back then, so this must be Eli's old room. Honoka opened the door, seeing the top of a blonde ponytail tied with a familiar white scrunchie, peeking out from behind a desk. Before, she said anything, Honoka decided to approach first, to make sure she had the right person. And she did. It  _ was _ Eli back there.

    "Eli-chan?" Honoka asked. Eli sniffled a bit, before looking back at Honoka.

    "Honoka?" Eli asked back. There were tears in her eyes, like she was just about to cry but had not reached the emotional point for the waterworks to truly spill. Honoka sat down next to Eli, and put a hand on her shoulder.

    "What's wrong?" Honoka asked. "I promise, I'll do whatever I can to help."

    "Honoka, I'm not sure if I ever told you this before, but after I ascended to EAT, I never thought I'd want to be back here again," Eli said.

    "Until today?"

    "I guess? Well, I don't entirely think moving up was a mistake, but..." Eli began, wiping off her eyes. "...now I'm not so sure. I knew there were going to be risks involved, I knew since day one, but after my first mission, and my second, and my third, I was so confident in Nozomi and I's abilities, and not seeing very many serious failures from other students that I just... I just thought it wasn't going to be anywhere near as dangerous if we were careful."

    Eli didn't sound a hundred percent sincere. Honoka figured she obviously still had something she was keeping in.

    "Eli-chan," Honoka replied, "I think I know why you're scared, it's because of what happened at the Death Fest, isn't it?"

    "The Death Fest?" Eli asked. "All the way back then?

    "Yeah," Honoka said. "Nozomi sacrificed herself to keep you from getting brainwashed back then, and a part of you must think she would have done just the same when you found out about the attack. For a bit there, you thought that if you took the mission, it could have been Nozomi-chan that was hurt."

    Eli nodded.

    "She would have," Eli said. "Like they say, a weapon has to be prepared to do anything it takes to protect their meister in combat, even die for them. They even tell us that in NOT. Nozomi would have sacrificed herself like she did at the Death Fest if she and I went to the basilica, and not just because she's my weapon."

    "I haven't thought much about the whole 'dying for your meister' concept," Honoka said, curling up. "Part of me would want to do whatever it takes to make sure my friends are alive and safe, but when you think about actually dying for them, and how they would feel when they're left behind like that..."

    "And to think that even kids as young as thirteen were in that position," Eli said. "That's a year shy of my little sister Alisa. Someone so young being hurt like that, it's just really scary to think about."

    "Yeah," Honoka replied. Eli was right. Honoka knew the reason why she didn't think about the concept much. She was terrified of dying. There was so much of life that Honoka wanted to experience. With her friends, no less. So she had pushed the thought of dying for Umi and/or Kotori's sake right into the back of her mind. She hoped she'd never have to make that choice firsthand.

    "I don't want Nozomi to sacrifice her life for me, I'd probably end up so shocked by seeing her do that, I'd end up getting killed, and her sacrifice would be in vain," Eli said. "I don't even know if we'd have gone to the basilica at that time, but I can't shake the thought of what would happen if we were in that scenario. I hope the boy who got attacked is doing okay."

    "Me too," Honoka replied. Eli then wiped her eyes again, realizing she hadn't really cried one drop since she started talking to Honoka. She got up to her feet.

    "At least I feel a  _ bit _ better now having gotten this off my chest," Eli said. "I'm glad I have such good close friends like you, Honoka. I'm glad you were there to listen to me."

    Close. To think that just a little while ago, Honoka thought Eli didn't think of her as such. It relieved her a little to hear she was wrong about that, but the moment admittedly could have been better.

    Just then, Honoka and Eli heard the door creak open to find Nozomi, Nico, and Umi standing there.

    "Elicchi, you've been 'in the bathroom' for a while, and my intuition led me here," Nozomi said. "Is there something you need to talk abou-"

    Nozomi was interrupted by Eli running up and hugging her.

    "I'll tell you once we get back to the dorms, Nozomi," Eli said. "Just... please promise me you'll make sure you'll help me protect both of us if we're ever in a really tough spot on another mission."

    Nozomi hugged Eli back.

    "Okay, I promise," she replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be writing slightly shorter chapters from here on out just to make things easier. which means we MAY be getting more frequent updates! also wow I whipped out this chapter a lot faster than the last one


	12. Rin/Hanayo and Nico/Maki's first mission!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (end note: I'm going on vacation soon so the next chapter is going to be delayed)

    "Guess who just got the four of us a group mission nobody else would take?" Nico exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the library table in front of Maki, Rin, and Hanayo.  _ Oh no, _ Maki thought, putting down the book on Soul Studies she was reading.

    "Nico-chan, you're supposed to be studying for the Ultimate Written Exam," Maki said.  _ That's why we're all in the library. _

    "Relax, relax," Nico replied. Of course she'd be procrastinating. Maki sighed.

    "So where's the mission at, nya?" Rin asked.

    "Yeah, Nico-chan," Hanayo added. "Where are we gonna be going?" 

    "Hey, don't just accept this so quickly!" Maki exclaimed.

    "What's the matter, Maki-chan?" Nico asked in that cutesy little voice that annoyed Maki to no end. "Don't want to go to Italy?"

    "ITALY?" Maki, Rin, and Hanayo gasped.

    "Where in Italy?" Rin asked.

    "It's not close to the Demon Swordmaster's attack, is it?" Hanayo added. That attack had only happened a little over a week and a half ago, in Florence, and though the Demon Swordmaster had not been spotted since, tensions remained high.

    "Uhh..." Nico said. Maki knew this was a bad sign. "It's in part of the Tuscan countryside, between Florence and Siena."

    Maki wasn't sure how to react. Did Nico just have this idea as something to procrastinate on her test prep with? Was she just so dense she forgot about the attack? Did she not think?  _ At least Nico-chan can't have gotten all the official paperwork done before talking to us, _ Maki thought.  _ Wait, did she? _

    "You didn't officially sign us all on, did you?" Hanayo asked.

    "Well, actually..." Nico began. Sweat dripped from her brow, and her eyes darted around the school library to the main door. Nico bolted out of the room before she could answer Hanayo's question further.

    "Are you kidding me?" Maki asked.

    "On it!" Rin exclaimed, running out after Nico. Nico and Rin ran out and around between bookshelves as Nico tried to get away and outpace her. Maki had the idea to go ahead and ambush Nico by the main door, and she race-walked there because darn it, Maki Nishikino wasn't going to get herself kicked out of the school library for running with such an important test coming up. She saw Nico again, running in the opposite direction and clearing the table Hanayo was at. Hanayo gasped.

    "Oh come on, nya!" Rin said, clearing the table as well.  _ She... didn't have to do that, _ Maki thought. Nico then made a sharp turn right for the door. Maki readied herself incase she had to catch her.

    "Just where do you think you're going?" Maki asked.

    "I've got you!" Rin exclaimed at the same time, grabbing Nico around the shoulders.

    "What do you two think you're doing?" the librarian asked at the same time as the both of them. He walked out from behind the desk over to Rin and Nico. "Running around the library and creating such a racket like you have no manners at all, why, I should just kick you both out."

    Nico and Rin both gulped, before accepting their punishment.

 

    "Hey, since Rin and I got kicked out of the library, should we just go ahead and go on that mission?"

    "No."

    "The plane tickets are non-refundable and the flight leaves in three hours."

    "NICO-CHAN!"

 

_ This is a new low, even for Nico-chan, _ Maki thought. Just her luck that Nico hadn't once mellowed since they became partners. And of course it was Maki, the weapon, getting swept up in Nico, the meister's, shenanigans. And why'd Nico have to bring Rin and Hanayo into this, anyway? Rin needed to study just as much as Nico did. (Hanayo's grades were good enough that she wouldn't have to worry about failing even if she just took the test right now, but Maki knew she'd want to prep to make sure she's in her best form as well)

_ I guess what's done is done, _ Maki thought.  _ But I definitely DO NOT want to die out here because Nico-chan forgot to ask us about the mission before signing us on. _

    "Hey, Nico-chan," Maki said.

    "What is it?" Nico asked.

    "I'm not sacrificing myself for you if the Demon Swordmaster attacks us."

    "You'll probably change your mind after the flight."

    Maki just rolled her eyes and leaned back as much as she could in her seat. This was going to be a long flight.

 

    Maki, Nico, Rin, and Hanayo arrived in Italy, stayed a night in a motel, and took a long bus ride out to their final destination. Nico had explained along the way that a Kishin egg was spotted out in the fields by a wooded area, where she apparently went during the day. And since it was around three-fourteen in the afternoon when they got to the specific area of the countryside the Kishin egg was last seen in, the woods was where they'd have to go first.

    "So what do we do first?" Rin asked Nico.  _ Of course Nico-chan was accepted as the leader, _ Maki thought.  _ Well, she is two years older than the rest of us. _

    "I was planning that we flush her out from the woods to the field, where she'd have less places to hide," Nico replied. "Come on, let's go! Whoever makes the kill gets the soul!"

    The four girls hiked up the hill to the edge of the woods. Hanayo and Rin turned around to admire the view, but Maki just wanted to get this mission over and done with as soon as possible. Only because Nico needed to get back and study, not because they're close enough to the area the Demon Swordmaster was spotted in that they could be attacked as well. Maki hated to admit it, but she worried a lot for Nico. Nico still didn't seem to be taking anything seriously, and she's an EAT student now. She didn't want Nico to fail out and have to take remedial lessons, or worse, get expelled. Maki looked over at Hanayo.  _ I'm starting to wonder if I did turn into a "worried weapon" like you after all, _ she thought.  _ At least the view is really pretty. _

    "Come on, Rin-chan, we have to go get that Kishin egg," Hanayo said.

    "Okay!" Rin replied. Maki sighed. No, there's no way, is there?

    "Maki-chan!" Nico exclaimed. There was a rustle in the woods. Maki's eyes widened a bit in surprise, before she transformed, her pistol form sailing right into Nico's hands. Nico aimed Maki out at the woods. Rin and Hanayo gasped, as the rustling became closer and closer, a humanoid figure seeming to emerge.  _ No, no, _ Maki thought.  _ Not you, anyone but you. _ Nico let out a battle cry and fired several bolts out at the figure. A stout old man emerged, likely a farmer. He yelled something in Italian at Nico, and she just stood there, unsure how to react.

    "Uh, I don't understand what you're saying," she said. "I don't speak Italian."

    The old farmer looked at her. 

    "I don't think he speaks English, Nico-chan," Maki whispered.

    "Oh, okay," Nico replied. "[Hi there, old farmer!]" Nico exclaimed. In Japanese. A language Maki thought the old Italian farmer was  _ less _ likely to understand. "[I am very,  _ very _ sorry for trying to shoot at you. Nico-Nii isn't going to let happen again, no sirree! Hey, have you seen a Kishin egg around?]"

    "Idiot!" Maki shouted, returning to human form. "I don't think he speaks Japanese, either."

    Maki was right. Frustrated, the old farmer walked back down the hill, grumbling something as he walked.

    "Wonder what he was even doing there, nya," Rin said. "Hey, Nico-chan, did you think he was the Demon Swordmaster? 'Cuz they don't look anything alike."

    "My soul perception stinks, that's why," Nico replied.

    "Really? So does mine, and I could see him with my eyes," Rin said.

    "I was nervous," Nico replied.

    "I totally get that, nya," Rin said. "Just be a bit more careful next time."

    Rin then went off into the woods, passing right by Nico. Hanayo then ran in after Rin, calling out for her. Nico and Maki figured they'd just follow the two, and into the woods they went.

 

    The first twenty minutes of searching, neither meister nor neither weapon spotted anything living that wasn't a plant or small animal. Maki was starting to wonder whether or not they went into the wrong forest. And what the heck was that old farmer from earlier doing in here? He didn't have any signs of having been in a fight on him, so these were definitely the wrong woods. At least that's what Maki thought, before a vaguely humanoid blur sped past the four, faster than any of them could run. Hanayo screamed.

    "What the heck was that?" she asked, grabbing on to Rin's hand and transforming immediately.

    "Woah!" Rin gasped, at her partner's sudden transformation. With a few jingles of her chain, Hanayo was fully in weapon form, Rin now armed and ready. 

    "All right, show yourself!" Rin exclaimed. Nico grabbed Maki's sleeve, and Maki instinctively knew what that meant.  _ Transform on my signal, _ Nico seemed to be saying with her look. "Well, show yourself unless you're the Demon Swordmaster, we'd rather not fight  _ you _ , nya."

    "Rin!" Maki snapped.

    "Oh yeah..." Rin replied. "I mean, we're not afraid of you!"

    "Th-They're not the one who's here," Nico said. "I mean, come on, Italy's a decently enough-sized country, and that's assuming they haven't fled to somewhere else, like... whatever borders Italy." Maki was glad the Ultimate Written Exam wasn't going to be on European Geography when she heard that one.

    "Austria?" Rin asked.

    "That, Switzerland, and a bit of France," Hanayo added. The blur passed by the group again.

    "Maki-chan!" Nico exclaimed.

    "Okay!" Maki replied, transforming. Nico looked around, but the blur was nowhere to be seen.

    "It's taunting us, nya," Rin said. Nico aimed Maki at a certain corner of the woods. Some shrubs. Rustling shrubs. A jingle of Hanayo's chain let Maki know Rin was also ready to attack. A humanoid figure leapt out of the shrubs, resembling a woman. But her hair had become white and unkempt, her skin just as pale. She had a look of madness in her eyes, and her face was beginning to look melted from the transformation into a Kishin egg. Maki felt sick. None of the Kishin eggs anyone in her class had seen had stark white, melted-looking faces.

    "That's her!" Nico exclaimed, firing several bolts at the Kishin egg. She sped past, nearly becoming a blur. Maki had heard of some Kishin eggs having unique powers, (Eli and Nozomi faced one with pyrokinesis, Umi, Honoka, and Kotori faced one that could create static duplicates) so she expected something highly dangerous and deceptive, but just super speed? Almost as good as facing one with no special abilities at all, this was going to be a piece of cake if all of them worked together.

    "Where'd she go?" Hanayo asked. Maki reflected on the side of her weapon form.

    "Up there, in the tree!" she replied, pointing up at it. (pointing was technically a useless move, as Maki's reflection was 2D)

    Nico grinned.

    "Nico-Nico-Nii!" she exclaimed.  _ Don't you dare do that as your battle speech! _ "I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart! Here to bring a smile, it's Nico-Nico Yazawa! I'm Nico-Nii, and I'll take your soul, Nico!"

    Nico then fired about five more bolts, and now that she had a head start thanks to Nico's speech, the Kishin egg leaped out of the tree. Maki could hear it running off in the distance.

    "You just had to do that, didn't you?" Maki asked.

    "Hey, maybe the Nico-Nico-Nii is gonna save somebody's life someday," Nico replied.

    "Don't argue, you two! We have to run after her!" Rin said, running off to chase down the Kishin egg. Nico ran after her, still annoyed that her "Nico-Nico-Nii" was not taken seriously as a battle speech. Maki watched as the forest scenery went by. She saw that Nico was running seriously fast, faster than usual in order to catch up with Rin and/or the Kishin egg. Which meant that she'd definitely tire herself out pretty soon.  _ What a pain. Nico-chan shouldn't tire herself out so soon, she'll just end up getting killed if she does that. _ Maki felt a sudden jolt as Nico held her up pointed in front of her.  _ What? Does Nico-chan have the Kishin egg in her sights? Is she going to fire while running? _

    "Nico-chan! I'm not sure it's safe to fire while running," Maki said.  _ Crap, that sounded too worrying, didn't it? _ "Are you an idiot?"  _ Much better. _

    "No, I'm not!" Nico shouted, firing a few bolts and barely missing Rin. But one of the bolts hit Hanayo, who swung around on her chain almost directly towards Rin's face. Hanayo then got right out of her transformation, landing on Rin and causing the two to roll down the slight incline the girls were all running up. If she hadn't done that, Rin would have taken a morningstar directly to the face. There wouldn't have been as much force as there would have been had someone swung Hanayo at her, but Rin still had the potential to be horribly injured by the hit. Heck, it might have been lethal.

    "Nico-chan!" Maki snapped. "You nearly killed Rin back there, what the hell are you thinking?"

    Nico stopped running, horrified at her near-mistake. She turned around and ran in the other direction, over to Rin and Hanayo. Hanayo had already gotten off of Rin, and was helping her up.

    "That was an accident, I'm so sorry!" Nico said.

    "We're okay, thanks to Kayo-chin being a Demon Weapon," Rin replied.

    "Yeah, we don't have much more than some bumps and grass stains," Hanayo said with relief.

    "Wait, Kayo-chin, this isn't dirt," Rin added, touching her own face. "Ow, yeah, that's a bruise."

    "But you guys are okay?" Nico asked.

    "Yeah," Hanayo replied, re-adjusting her glasses. Thankfully, they had not broken or gotten scratched.

    "Kayo-chin, maybe you should start wearing contacts," Rin said. "You don't want your glasses to get broken or anything."

    "I'll be fine, since I'm mostly in my weapon form," Hanayo replied. "If I were the meister and you were the weapon, Rin-chan, I'd definitely get contacts."

    "Didn't you have a backup pair of contacts?" Maki asked.

    "I... accidentally left it in Death City," Hanayo replied, looking down at her feet. Her glasses fell down on her nose a bit, and she pushed them back up with one finger.

    "Can everyone stop talking about contact lenses for a second and go after that Kishin egg?" Nico asked. "I don't want to stay here in Italy any longer than we have to."

    "Ah, sorry about that," Hanayo replied, grabbing Rin's hand and transforming into weapon form.  _ Doesn't she know you can transform without holding hands?  _ Maki thought, as Rin and Nico began running off up the incline again.

 

    The girls ran through the woods, not catching head nor hair of the Kishin egg. She definitely had eluded them in those last few minutes, none of them noting any sign of her anywhere. Hanayo saw nothing. Rin saw nothing. Nico saw nothing. Maki saw nothing. Nothing but the woods around them, and the occasional small mammal or bird. And they were at a strange part in the woods, too. A clearing of sorts with one big, dying old tree in the middle of it. One edge of the clearing was a very steep hill neither Nico or Rin could climb down without risking possible ankle injury. The other was a thicker portion of the wooded area with a small path leading back the direction the girls came in. And then right out of the thicker portion of the woods jumped out a fast-moving white blur. The Kishin egg, no doubt.

    "Look out, nya!" Rin exclaimed, running off a few steps so that Nico wouldn't be within swinging distance of Hanayo. The Kishin egg ran around the clearing, dodging Nico's every bolt, and the few swings Rin made. Maki almost thought she seemed to have a strategy in mind, noticing how the Kishin egg was darting around to put Nico and Rin on opposite sides of the clearing.

    "You DWMA brats think you can kill me, don't you?" the Kishin egg asked. Her voice was sharp and grating, and sounded surprisingly legible for someone who looked like her face was melting into madness.

    "Can? Yes," Rin replied. "Will? Absolutely."

    "We'll see about that," the Kishin egg said, hitting the old tree with full force.

    "You missed!" Nico said, taking a few shots at her. Maki noticed something about the way the old tree began to creak and fall, and leapt out of her weapon form, jumping to tackle Nico out of the way. The old tree hit the ground with a big  _ CRASH _ , leaving Rin and the Kishin egg on the other side.  _ Of course she'd separate the one with a gun, _ Maki thought, looking down at Nico. She began to hear hits and jingling chains not too far away.

    "That tree wasn't anywhere near hitting me," Nico said. "But I knew you'd try to save my life from something."

    "That's an odd way to say 'thank you'," Maki replied, helping Nico up. Since Maki was the taller of the two, she figured she should be the one to approach the fallen old tree. But before she did, she heard Rin loudly scream, and it sounded like she was falling. The soft  _ thud _ in the distance confirmed this. Rin must have went down the steep hill, and the Kishin egg, seeming satisfied that that took her out, leaped onto the tree and kicked Maki in the face, before going for Nico. Maki immediately checked for knocked out teeth. She had lost none, but one of her bottom front teeth was chipped, and her lip was busted, bleeding as red as her hair. Maki turned around to see Nico and the Kishin egg in the beginnings of a fistfight. Nico got punched right in the side of her shoulder thanks to her attempt at a dodge. (The hit would have hit her in the solar plexus otherwise)

    "Nico-chan!" Maki exclaimed, her body glowing and turning into a flash of red light. Maki sailed, hopefully into Nico's hand, rematerializing into gun form. But she missed her calculation thanks to Nico and the Kishin egg both moving around. And Maki hit the ground, tripping up the Kishin egg by hitting her ankle. Nico swooped in to pick Maki up, and aimed her right at the Kishin egg's face. J _ ust fire now, Nico-chan! Don't even think about one of your stupid catchphrases! _

    "I told you I'll take your soul," Nico said, right as the Kishin egg leapt away. "Can't you do anything at a normal speed?" Nico asked in frustration, firing a few more bolts before the Kishin egg leapt back over the fallen tree. "Jeez," Nico grumbled, climbing over the fallen tree herself. Being so short, this took a bit of work. But she stood perched upon the fallen tree, watching the Kishin egg as she slid down the hill  _ right where Rin had fallen earlier _ . Nico and Maki both gasped. Maki reflected on the side of her barrel to better see what was going on.

    "Rin!" she and Nico shouted, hearing Hanayo shout "Rin-chan!" faintly at the bottom of the hill.

    "Come back for more, nya?" Rin taunted. Nico and Maki could see everything that was going on at that angle, and Rin seemed to be straining to stand on one of her ankles.  _ This is bad, she must have twisted it, _ Maki thought.  _ Maybe even sprained or broke it. _ The Kishin egg then knocked Rin back, and she was stumbling, straining harder to stand than before.  _ She's going to get hurt!  _ Maki thought.

    Maki looked up at Nico in worry, noticing she had a determined look in her eyes. Whatever Nico was thinking, she was definitely sure of it. Nico held up Maki, about to point her at the Kishin egg, before...

    "Nico-Nico-Nii!" Nico shouted at the top of her lungs.  _ This better be a distraction, _ Maki thought. The Kishin egg looked up at Nico. "I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart- what? You're trying to attack Nico-Nii's friends? I'll make sure you Nico-Nico pay for that, yes I will!"

    The Kishin egg burst out laughing for a few seconds. Until Rin swung Hanayo right into her skull. Blood from the impact spurt out for half a second, before the Kishin egg vanished into black ribbons, leaving behind only her soul.

    "I... I did it, nya!" Rin exclaimed.

    "Way to go, Rin!" Nico shouted, before getting down from the fallen tree and trying to make her way down the steep hill. She fell down part of the way, rolling down for the last meter or two, but suffered no worse than a few dirt and grass stains. Maki left her weapon form, helped Nico up, and the two walked over to Rin and Hanayo, the latter now back in her human form as well.

    "Since we delivered the killing blow..." Hanayo began.

    "Yeah, it's yours," Nico said. "But rest assured, Maki-chan's gonna be getting the prize next time we go out on a mission together, I guarantee it!"

    Rin laughed a bit, and Hanayo picked up the soul in her hands, holding it like it was a big rice ball. She ate it whole, as was the only way to do it.

    "We did it, Kayo-chin!" Rin exclaimed, hugging Hanayo.

    "Our very first soul," Hanayo said, hugging Rin back.

    "Hey, hey, how'd it taste, nya?"

    "Not like much, it was really more of a texture than a flavor."

 

    Nico squeezed onto Maki's hand, a triumphant grin on her face.

    "Told you the Nico-Nico-Nii was going to save someone's life someday," Nico said. Maki sighed.

    "I guess it did."


	13. Ultimate Written Exam!

    "Nico-chan, Nico-chan!" Honoka exclaimed. Nico looked around at her surroundings. She was in the middle of the school hallways, and there was a huge board taking up most of an entire wall. But the room did not feel right, odd even.

    "I can't believe you did it, Nico-chan!" Kotori added.

    "That's our Nico-chan," Rin said. "Number one meister in all of DWMA, nya."

    Nico turned her head to look at the board. There they were, the scores for the Ultimate Written Exam. And there she was, right at the top. Nico beamed with pride. Before feeling a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see who it was. It was Maki, but her face was hidden in shadow from a large sunhat.

    "What's the matter, Maki-chan?" Nico asked. "Upset that I beat you without even studying?"

    Nico lifted the brim of Maki's hat to see her expression was completely blank and lifeless. Nico stepped back a bit in horror. Honoka, Kotori, and Rin seemed to have vanished, though she could hear Rin laughing in the distance. Maki opened her mouth, and began to yell out in obnoxious, high-pitched screeches that sounded...

 

    ...exactly like Nico's alarm clock.

 

    Nico groaned as she awoke, rubbing her eyes a bit before looking over at the calendar. Two weeks left until the Ultimate Written Exam. Maki was already awake, her face looking normal and a pencil to her study notes. And Nico's notes were right beside hers,  _ blank _ . Because Nico had used being kicked out of the library as an excuse not to study, in addition to her usual lack of desire to do so. Guilt spread through Nico like a wildfire. Two weeks left and she hadn't studied even once. She pulled the hood back down from her bunny pajamas and rolled out of bed.

    "You're finally up," Maki said.

    "Yeah," Nico replied, still not fully awake. It was a school day, so Nico figured she'd go ahead and get ready for class, and spend whatever time she had left to study. (or at the very least copy some of Maki's notes without her knowing)

 

    The bell rang for classes to end, as Nico began hurriedly scribbling down some more notes on a sheet of paper. _ I thought I could beat Maki-chan and be number one without even studying, but...  _ Nico looked again at a graded quiz that was handed to her earlier that day.  _ Since I only scored forty percent of the answers correct on this... ah, what are you thinking, Nico-Nii? You can get this right naturally, you're Nico Yazawa! _

    "Everyone ready to head to the library, nya?" Rin asked.

    "We were kicked out, Rin," Nico replied.

    "Kicked out, not banned," Rin corrected. "You and I can go back now as long as we don't cause any trouble. Kayo-chin and I have been studying a lot in there yesterday."

    "And from today on until the test, all of μ's is joining in," Eli added.

    "Yeah!" Honoka cheered.  _ Honoka, _ Nico thought.  _ Probably the only person who I can count on that's studied the same amount as me. _ Honoka held up a surprisingly thick notebook.  _ Or not. Guess Drill Sergeant Umi's at it again. Okay, Nico, confidence. _

    "Well, what are we waiting for?" Nico asked. "Let's go!"

    "Oh, you nine are going, too?" Tsubasa asked. She was standing flanked by Anju and Erena as usual. A-RISE was always inseparable, wasn't it?

    "We'll still beat you all," Erena said.

    "There's nine of us, and three of you," Nozomi said.

    "So in terms of total points, we will have a near-total chance at winning," Umi added. "So I guess you're challenging us on, hmm... group averages or which member gets the highest score overall?"

    "Highest overall," Anju replied. "But if it's a tie, then group averages."

    "μ's, consider us your rivals for the next two weeks," Tsubasa said. And with that, A-RISE walked away. Nico tried to hide it while the others were talking to them, but she was definitely intimidating.  _ A-RISE is consistently at the top of the class in terms of both combat and academics. But μ's has Eli, Umi, Maki-chan, and myself if I make a perfect comeback, _ Nico thought.  _ Maybe Hanayo or Nozomi could do it. _

    "So I guess they Nico-Nico-need to step up their game if they think they have a chance," Nico said. Out loud. With no regrets.

    "That's the spirit, Nico-chan!" Hanayo said. And there was no doubt in Nico's mind that it was.

 

    Until she actually went to the library and opened up a textbook. There were so, so many words on that page in such tiny, tiny print. Nico looked around the table at the other girls. Honoka was sitting with Hanayo and Kotori, Umi was helping Rin and Nozomi, while Eli and Maki were just sitting with each other, looking at their own notes. Hmm, Maki-chan and Eli are both smart. Nico inched over to them.

    "Ah, Nico-chan," Maki said.

    "Can I compare you two's notes with mine?" Nico asked, setting her notes with theirs. She froze up a second.  _ Crap, Eli and Maki-chan have both written so much and so neat. _ Sure, Nico's notes looked fancy, with the letters all big and bubbly, all the lowercase I's and J's dotted with hearts, and to put the icing on the cake, any letters like "O" with "holes" in them all had those holes made of hearts as well. But in terms of handwriting-to-content ratio...

    "Well, I'm impressed that you were able to take these in class," Eli said. "They look so... elaborate."

    "Couldn't sacrifice my charm now, could I?" Nico asked.

    "But once you look past that, they're really sparse," Maki replied. "It's like you summarized a summary and took the abridged version of that."

    "At least my notes are cutest," Nico pouted.

    "This isn't a cuteness test," Maki said.

    "I know that," Nico replied, starting to look over Eli's notes more. They looked perfect. Neatly written, with as much information crammed into as little space she could. All highlighted and formatted accordingly. In fact, it also looked like a summary of a summary before taking the abridged version of that, but instead of just one day of class's worth of information, it was the entire  _ year's _ worth of classes.  _ No fair, Eli. But at least we're gonna have an edge with A-RISE's challenge for sure. Just wish it could've been me. No, Nico, you've still got two weeks, you can make this! _

    Nico took Eli's notes and walked off to find a copier. She was sure she could just memorize those and pass the test, easy-peasy. Wait, is there even a copier in here?

    "Nico, I need that back," Eli whispered. Nico yelped in surprise, before turning around to see an unimpressed Eli. "Shh," Eli said, putting a finger to her lips.

    "I was looking for a copier..." Nico mumbled. _ I could always just copy it by hand, I guess... _

 

    Which is what she spent the rest of that study session doing.

 

    The next day, μ's organized in threes again. But this arrangement was a lot less lucky. Nozomi sat with Kotori and Hanayo; Umi, Eli, and Maki created a cool elite, and Nico was stuck with Honoka and Rin. It's not that those two weren't fun and lively people to be around, they definitely were and Nico loved that aspect of them, but... well, in terms of studiousness, let's just say Nico was matched with those the same type as her own.

    "Let's start, nya!" Rin exclaimed just a bit too loud for a library.

    "Yeah!" Honoka added.

    "Okay!" Nico said. The three of them opened up a textbook, all of them staring at the pages. Nico, Honoka, and Rin all immediately exchanged the same "I don't understand a word of this" look. Nico sighed, taking out "her" page of notes. Honoka and Rin gasped in amazement.

    "Nico-chan, those are amazing," Honoka said. "Who did you copy them off of?"

    Damn, Honoka saw right through her.

    "Eli," Nico replied. She knew Honoka wasn't trying to be malicious with that comment, her tone definitely didn't suggest it. (Nor did Nico really try to pass them off as her own other than just taking them out of her bag)

    "No wonder," Rin said. "Oh, not saying you couldn't make anything like this, Nico-chan."

    "D-don't worry about it," Nico replied. "I wonder if we could spend the next hour and a half or so just studying this."  _ Of course, I shouldn't mention I spent a majority of yesterday copying this thing out by hand... _

    It took three minutes for the trio to go over to Eli's group. Eventually, all nine members of μ's came together. Within fifteen minutes, simple confusion turned into a lively study session that lasted until the library closed for the evening. Nico left feeling satisfied, feeling she had a lot of fun while learning a bit.

 

    The rest of the study sessions were like that one, with the splitting up and recombining. It didn't matter whether the groups were by age, meister/weapon pairs, or whatever. They always ended up back together in the end. Perhaps that was what μ's really was. Togetherness. 

 

    Oh, how Nico hoped the togetherness was going to pay off by test time.

 

    On test day, Nico's alarm rang bright and early, but she turned it off immediately and rolled back into bed,

    "Five more minutes," she muttered to nobody in particular.

    "Oh no you don't, Nico-chan," Maki said, walking over to wake Nico up. As usual, Maki was dressed and ready for class. How does she do it? Does she just wake up earlier, earlier than Nico, on purpose? How does one even do that?

    But Nico couldn't really pay any mind to that. 

 

_ Get out of bed. Have breakfast. Wonder how Cocoro, Cocoa, and Cotaro are doing back home. Stave off worries and homesickness, today is not the day for that! Get dressed. Meet up with the rest of μ's at the front of the dorms and walk to school together. Obligatory gripe about the steps from someone, today it was Honoka, as usual. Walk to class. Sit down. Be split up from Maki because meisters and weapons couldn't sit together during the test for whatever reason. Wonder why Sid-sensei was carrying a beat-up blue-haired boy outside to the next class over. Realize you forgot your pencil, right as Nygus-sensei comes in. At least the morning up to now wasn't TOO unusual. _

 

    "Umi-chan, can I borrow a pencil?" Nico whispered, as Nygus was explaining the test rules.

    "Fine," Umi replied, handing Nico a mechanical pencil. "You should have brought your own. Now let me listen to the rules."

_ What's gotten her all upset? She's almost like Maki-chan this morning. But handing me a mechanical pencil... so much trust. _

    "The exam has multiple answer types, with sixty minutes to complete," Nygus said.  _ Thank goodness it's multiple choice. _ "You must fill in the bubbles corresponding to each answer completely..." Nico then zoned out. This was like every other standardized test she's ever taken. Except for the subject. She's never had a standardized test entirely on Soul Studies before. "Fill out your name at the top before answering any of the questions. You may begin."

 

    And with that, the Ultimate Written Exam had begun! Nico wrote down her name in her usual cutesy handwriting, but was careful not to take too much time with it. She then turned to Question One.

 

    "Fill in the blanks: A sound soul dwells in a sound (___________) and a sound (___________)."

 

_ Multiple choice, my foot, _ Nico thought.  _ Wait, Nygus-sensei said "multiple answer types", not "multiple choice"! Crap! Okay, okay, you can do this. A sound soul dwells in a sound (___________) and a sound (___________).A sound soul dwells in a sound (___________) and a sound (___________). A sound body and a sound mind! Wait, is that order right? Think, think, what did Nozomi say about this... _

 

_  "Remember, if you don't know the answer, go with your spiritual intuition. Or maybe just your gut, whatever works." _

 

    Nico immediately wrote down what she first thought.  _ Go with my gut, go with my gut... _

    She glanced around the room to see what everyone else was doing. Of course, just like she thought, everyone was just testing as usual. On Nico's right, Umi was using her left arm to block her test from Nico. And on Nico's left... Honoka. Already on Question Five.  _ Already? _ Nico thought.  _ Either I'm wasting time or Honoka's just guessing. _ Nico weighed the possibilities, and came to the conclusion she should get back to her test, because Nygus seemed to be looking at her funny. Nico tried to look in front of her at Anju, but her head blocked her test.  _ No, you can't even THINK about cheating! Do the test, Nico! Do the test! _

    Nico breezed through the next few questions, confident that the test was actually going to be very easy. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... ten! Question Ten was a true or false question. And gosh, it sure looked true. But Nico's gut was telling her something. Something... suspicious. The one who wrote the test questions, Dr. Stein, wasn't someone Nico personally knew, but some said he had a…  _ reputation _ , to put it nicely. So the question might be a trick.  _ Oh no, nobody's going to trick Nico Yazawa on her watch, _ Nico thought, going with her gut and picking "false." She glanced over the question a few more times as she tried to answer Questions Eleven and Twelve, but ultimately, she decided not to doubt her gut. And then she heard a ear-splittingly high-pitched screech. There was no guessing on who  _ that  _ came from.

    "Kotori!" Eli gasped. Nico looked over at the other side of the classroom. Kotori slowly got up from her seat, clutching her writing hand.  _ No, she can't be giving up. _ "Sensei, Kotori's bleeding!"

_ What? Why? How? _

    "How big's the cut?" Nygus asked, getting a small first aid kit out of her cargo pants. Kotori moved her other hand off the bleeding one. And there was a  _ nasty _ paper cut, right across her fingertip. It was only a little blood, but Nico winced nonetheless. Right across the fingertip on Kotori's right index finger. Probably one of the worst places to get a paper cut. Nygus gave Kotori a Band-aid, and sent her back to her seat. 

    Nico looked back at the test, which, thanks to the distraction of Kotori's minor injury, now looked as if it was written in gibberish. Nico ended up guessing on the next two questions to make up for lost time, before looking at the clock.  _ Crap, half an hour's passed already? _ Nico thought.  _ I'm not even halfway through the test! How long did I zone out? _

 

_     If you don't know, go with your gut. If you have to guess, go with your gut! Argh, it seems my gut's taking the test more than my brain! _

    Nico kept doing whatever she could to get the answers filled in as quickly and (hopefully) accurately as possible, when...

    "I'm done!" Honoka exclaimed, standing up. She was the first one to do so.

    "Great work, Miss Kousaka," Nygus replied. "Set your test on my desk, return to your seat, and do not disturb the others."  _ If Honoka finished first... crap, did I assume wrong for who's gonna be on top? _ Nico slipped into a daydream about Honoka, standing in front of the score board, having the highest score, just how Nico dreamed she did. And then she accidentally stabbed her finger with the pencil and just like that, Nico Yazawa was snapped back to reality. She went right back to Question One and changed it to what she saw Honoka write, just in case. Because the people who finish the test first are either super smart or end up with the worst grade of the bunch. Honoka's track record indicated that Nico really shouldn't have placed a bet, but gosh darn it, she was feeling really lucky on that one answer now.

 

    Fifteen minutes remaining. The classroom was going into a frenzy. All Nico could hear were pencils, the tapping of Honoka's restless fot below the desk, and the flipping of papers. She had finished nearly all the questions by now, and was just flipping through to check her answers. Umi had already turned in her test, so did most of the rest of μ's, save for Nico and Rin. A-RISE was already long past the point of no return, all three of them sitting confidently in their seats.

 

    Ten minutes remaining. Nico was ever so close to just turning in her test right then and there, but there was a nagging feeling in her gut that said she shouldn't. She had already gone through her answers a dozen times, second-guessing herself any more than that would just harm her, she was sure of that.

    "Wait, are those red spots on my paper?" Nico whispered as quietly as she could muster. She flipped through, to find them  _ all over the margins of her test. _ Nico looked down at her hands, Sure enough, the finger she stabbed with her pencil earlier was smeared with blood. Not actively bleeding anymore, but smeared with the tiniest amount of blood. Nico sighed. Feeling a dampness in her T-shirt's armpit areas as she moved her arms back, she realized she had literally put her blood and sweat into this test. All that was left was tears. Nico picked up her test and walked down to Nygus's desk, right as she called out the five-minute mark, and Rin loudly gasped, running over to hand her test in right as Nico set hers down.

    "Ha, you're the last one!" they both exclaimed. "No, you are!"

    "It doesn't matter, back to your seats," Nygus replied. Five minutes, left just to rest. And Nico was sure she handed in her test just a half second before Rin did, what gives her the right to...

    "No, Nico," Nico said to herself. "I'm sure I beat Rin either way."

    Nico sat at her seat, waiting through the last five minutes, as commotion from the next room over could be heard through the walls.

    "Man, Class Crescent Moon really seems to be going at it," Honoka said. "Wonder if they're okay in there."

    "Can't have gotten multiple injuries like us, right?" Nico asked, right as she heard a scream coming from in there. "Okay, maybe... nah."

    "Multiple?" Umi whispered. Nico showed Umi the dried blood on her finger. "Huh."

    "Pencils down," Nygus said.

    "And a pencil back to you," Nico said to Umi.

 

    The class period ended soon after that. Nico still kept her initial confidence until she got back to the dorms, when she realized she  _ had left the last question blank _ .

    "Nico-chan, what's wrong?" Maki asked.

    "Son of a..."

 

    μ's and A-RISE were abuzz at the board every day until the grades were put up. The top score, a perfect one hundred points, did not go to anyone from either group, instead to Class Crescent Moon's Maka Albarn. Second place also went to someone from Class Crescent Moon, Ox Ford, scoring ninety-nine points. Nico looked around, unable to find her name near the top, but she did notice a name she recognized. Eli Ayase, ninety-eight points.

    "Elicchi, look!" Nozomi exclaimed. It seemed that she noticed at the exact time Nico did. "Seems someone from μ's has the highest score among us all."

    "Hold on a second..." Tsubasa said, looking through the board. There she found her own name, with ninety-six points, just behind Umi, who had ninety-seven. Maki also scored ninety-six points, Erena ninety-five, and Hanayo and Anju both eighty-nine.

    "Seems there are μ's members above all of three you," Honoka said.

    "But where's  _ your _ name?" Erena asked.

    "Nozomi, you scored an eighty-seven," Eli said.

    "Oh, I got eighty-eight!" Kotori exclaimed.

    "Fifty-three, nya!"

    "You did your best, Rin-chan," Hanayo said.

    "Better than Nico-chan's forty-four," Rin replied.

    "WHAT?" Nico gasped, looking over at her score. Ninety-fourth place, Nico Yazawa, forty-four points. Well, at least she was still in the top one hundred. Out of the one hundred and thirty EAT students who took the test. Nico groaned.  _ I can't have missed all those points for just leaving one question blank, which means... _

    "I scored thirty-four," Honoka sighed. At least Nico had ten points over the last one in the group. So there's at least that to console her.

    "Honoka, that's not good," Umi said. "Look, you're literally  _ just below _ the cutoff for the makeup test range."

    "I... failed?" Honoka asked. "No, it can't be..."

    "So in terms of highest score overall, μ's won, but if we tied and had to do an average, A-RISE would have won," Tsubasa muttered to herself. "If only I had scored at least two more points..."

 

_ I have to accept "not the worst test-taker of the group", don't I? _ Nico thought to herself, looking at the makeup test range. Which was everyone who scored under thirty-five points, and the two students who for some reason, were left out of consideration. So with forty-four points, Nico was ten points above needing to take a makeup.

    "Well, whatever," Nico said. "Honoka, I hope your makeup test goes well."

    "Thanks, Nico-chan," Honoka replied. "Cheer me on, okay?"

    "Okay."

 

    "Hey, hey, Nico-chan!"

    "What is it, Honoka?"

    "I just got the results of the makeup test in! I scored a forty-FIVE!"

    "That's wonderf...hey!"


	14. I can't believe we're stuck at the anniversary party!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried my best to describe the unidolized wedding dress set from LLSIF for the girls' party dresses. also, guess which μ's song honoka sings part of later in the chapter! the translated lyrics were sourced from the love live wiki incase anyone was wondering

    Hanayo adjusted her forest green skirt and the last of her accessories. Tonight was the eve party for DWMA's eight hundredth anniversary, and she definitely wanted to look her best for the occasion. She put in a pair of little flower-shaped earrings and swapped out her glasses for contacts, before getting a surprise hug from behind. Hanayo looked over her shoulder to see Rin, looking a bit nervous as she usually did when she dressed in super-girlish formal wear. Both she and Hanayo were going for a sort-of-matching-outfits-but-not-quite-matching vibe with primarily greenish dresses (though Rin's was more teal), white short-sleeved jackets, and headbands with bows on them.

    "Kayo-chin, you look so cute!" Rin exclaimed. 

    "Thank you, Rin-chan," Hanayo replied, giving Rin a quick kiss on the cheek. "But you definitely look cuter."  _ Rin-chan always looks super-cute in girly stuff like this, _ Hanayo thought, grinning from ear to ear.

    "No, no, Kayo-chin, you're much cuter, nya," Rin said. 

    "I'm sure you're cuter, Rin-chan," Hanayo giggled, right as the door to their dorm room flung open to reveal Nico, wearing a layered pink and red dress with a red ribbon across the stomach. And to adorn her signature pigtails, she traded her usual ribbons for sparkly fake roses.

    "Both of you are wrong, I'M definitely the cutest," Nico said.  _ She definitely seems back to normal after what happened with the test, _ Hanayo thought.

    "Are you two ready?" Maki asked. She was wearing an off-shoulder red dress with a sparkly translucent piece of fabric draped over her arms. It looked so cool and pretty on her, suiting her elegant image perfectly.

    "Yeah, we're ready!" Rin and Hanayo both replied, walking out in the hall. Kotori, Umi and Honoka walked down the hall over to them at nearly the exact same time. Umi wore a simple belted blue dress, Kotori wore a bunchy pink one, and Honoka wore an simple orange dress with a fancier-looking light orange layer above it.

    "Now we're just missing Nozomi and Eli," Nico said. (It was at this point Hanayo noticed that Nico was wearing heels to boost her up those last few inches so she could be just slightly taller than everyone else. Hanayo decided not to point this out)

    "We're right here, Nicocchi!" Nozomi called out.

    Hanayo noticed Eli first, clad in stylish black and white, but when Nozomi caught her eye, she caught everyone's eye.  _ hard _ . A purple dress that hugged her form, matching fake roses on both her low pigtails and herbangs, a string of pearls, and sparkly translucent fabric draped over her shoulders and tied in front of her chest in the shape of a rose. Nozomi had clearly gone all out tonight, and she was not afraid to show it. The way she looked gave Hanayo a boost of sheer confidence without either of them having to say a word to each other.

    "Is everyone ready to go?" Eli asked.

    "Yeah!" Honoka immediately exclaimed, the rest of μ's soon echoing in agreement.

 

    And with that, they were off to the anniversary party!

 

    The party was packed, almost like the entirety of DWMA had shown up. The crowd alone was nearly enough to overwhelm Hanayo, so she held on to Rin's hand in hopes not to get lost. There was a jazz band setting up over in a corner, and a very large refreshment table taking up half a wall. Hanayo pondered walking over to it for a second.  _ Should I? I mean, we just got here, I don't want to look like I just came here for the free food... _

    "Kayo-chin, look!" Rin said. "Lord Death's about to give a speech!"

    Hanayo looked over at where Lord Death stood, looking just as impressive yet goofy as usual, with his tall height and oversized gloves. (Or at least Hanayo hoped they were his gloves, as it seems like it would be very unfortunate to actually have hands that size) But his speech was far less impressive and far too brief. Soon his son, Death the Kid, who looked far more human and was dressed in a white suit, took over, giving a far more formal address for the event until he noticed that Black Star boy who always seemed to do so well at the Death Fests. He had apparently climbed the curtains while nobody was looking. Black Star shouted like the partygoers were his audience, demanding their attention to admire his greatness. Kid  _ tried _ to keep going with his speech until he just couldn't take it anymore. He and Black Star ended up getting into a physical fight over who really interrupted whose speech until Lord Death resumed speaking only to tell everyone to enjoy the party.

    "That...sure was something," Umi said, as the jazz band began to play.

    "Kotori-chan, do you wanna dance?" Honoka asked.

    "Sure!" Kotori replied, blushing a bit. Honoka seemed a bit confused as to why Kotori blushed, but immediately paid no mind to it and led her to dance.

    "Elicchi, shall we dance as well?" Nozomi asked, holding out her hand.

    "Of course," Eli replied, taking Nozomi's hand and walking out to the dance floor with her.

    "Rin-chan?" Hanayo asked.

    "I know just what you're going to say, nya," Rin replied with a smile. She ran off, still with Hanayo's hand in hers, to the dance floor.  _ Aah, I was going to ask Rin-chan about us going to the refreshment table before the line fills up! _ Hanayo thought, noticing how it was already becoming too late for that.  _ I guess dancing with her's gonna get bumped up to much earlier than I thought. _

    Nico, Umi, and Maki went out to the dance floor to join the rest of μ's. They weren't dancing as a couple with a third wheel, (Maki cracking a joke about how that would be unfair to Nico, much to Nico's annoyance) but as a trio. While she and Rin were still finding their spot, Hanyo noticed how Maki was looking at another pretty girl, who had her long black hair tied up in a ponytail that got folded up back at her head, and a seafoam green dress. She was standing by that Black Star boy as he was shoving his face with food. Maki looked away from that girl for a second, blushing a little.

    "Kayo-chin, over here!" Rin said. Hanayo looked at her two empty hands, before turning around to look at Rin.  _ When did I let go of her hand? _ Hanayo thought, as Rin leaned in very close to whisper in her ear. "You know ballroom dance, right, Kayo-chin?"

    "Uhh..." Hanayo replied.

    "That's okay, we don't have to be all fancy, nya," Rin said.

    "Yeah, we'll just wing it," Hanayo added. She and Rin held both each other's hands and began to step side-to-side, spinning around a bit periodically so as not to look monotonous. The atmosphere was casual enough that they could get away with it, but more importantly, dancing like this was really, really fun. With the girl she loved, and without a care in the world. 

 

    Suddenly, the door flung open, and in came an injured Sid Barrett, nearly collapsing against the door frame as he struggled to enter the dance hall. People stopped dancing immediately to look at him, Dr. Stein and seven students running up to see if he was okay, including the girl in the seafoam green Maki seemed to be interested in.

    "He's hurt!" Kotori gasped.

    "Is Sid-sensei gonna die?" Honoka asked. "Again?"

    "Shh, he might be saying something important," Umi said.

    Sid was urging the students to evacuate, saying he was ambushed by a witch who planned to attack the school during the anniversary party. People began to freeze up in panic. And the nurse, Medusa, ran off the balcony and jumped onto a gigantic flying snake. _ Wait, is she the witch?  _ Hanayo thought. The dance hall began to shake, as Sid began resonating with his partner, Nygus. People began sensing magic outside, and confused and panicked chatter began through the dance hall. Some people got up to stockpile food from the refreshment table.

    "Anyone else feel that?" Nozomi asked.

    "Yeah," Eli replied.

    "Eli, your Soul Perception's the strongest, how many witches are out there?" Umi asked. Eli closed her eyes in concentration.

    "Two right now, from the looks of it, I think I can sense more coming in on the way, five or six of them," Eli replied. "Not to mention a werewolf and a Kishin egg."

    "We're so dead, nya," Rin said.  _ Dead? No, Rin-chan, it can't be! _

    "Don't say we're dead!" Hanayo wailed.

    "Look!" Nico exclaimed. Sid plunged Nygus (in weapon form) into the floor. Eight coffin-shaped holes formed underneath Stein and the seven students, and the eight of them fell through the floor. Sid collapsed, still alive, and with Nygus embedded into the tile, everyone else could only watch as the witches' magic fully manifested, a cube appearing around the room.

    "Seems like Sid-sensei only had enough energy to let a few escape," Kotori said.

    "Damn it," Nico said. "Was the heart-stoppingly adorable Nico-Nii not enough for him?"

    "Uh, Nozomi, you know the most about witches out of the nine of us, right?" Maki asked, completely ignoring Nico. "Do you know what spell they casted?"

    "Yeah," Nozomi replied. "It appears the witches outside used an Independent Cube. It's a type of high-level spatial magic that cuts off an area from everything in the outside world. It's impenetrable, so we're not gonna be able to leave the room for a while, maybe even an hour."

    "An hour?" Hanayo and Maki both shrieked.  _ Being trapped for up to a full hour, _ Hanayo thought.  _ An hour. An HOUR. AN HOUR. _

    "Somebody save me!" Hanayo shouted.

    "Nobody can, I'm afraid," Maki replied. "This couldn't have come at a worse time."

    "Why, you gotta use the bathroom?" Honoka asked. Maki sighed, before giving a slight nod. "Just think about dry stuff, and anything  _ but _ water or going to the bathroom."

    "Wanna place bets on how long Maki-chan can hold it?" Nozomi asked.

    "Nozomi, don't be cruel," Eli replied. Maki took off her heels and sat down on the floor, the rest of μ's joining her one by one. This was going to be the next hour of their lives, give or take a few minutes. Trapped in a room with pretty much the rest of the school save for a number of students that could be counted on two hands. And everyone was agitated in either a panicky way or an angry way, some already even trying to test the barrier with their weapons. Oh, this was definitely not going to be fun.

 

    "So, what are we gonna do for the next hour?" Nico asked.

    "Dunno," Honoka replied.

    "Figures," Nico said. Honoka took a deep breath, and started to sing to pass the time. 

    "I feel that we have a chance," she began singing, "yes... let's push forward! I don't want to regret it later, our future lies right ahead."

    Honoka seemed stuck there.

    "Honoka-chan, you're a really great singer," Hanayo said. "Where'd you get that song from?"

    "Oh, it's just something I came up with on the spot," Honoka replied. "That first bit's all I got, though," she said. "Our future lies right ahead..." she repeated, trying to see if the next lyric would come to her. "Our future lies right ahead... darn, I got nothing. "

 

   Lord Death then interrupted everyone to say that there was a Kishin underneath the school and that's what Medusa was most likely after. And then he started going on about a man named Asura, who was apparently this Kishin under the school. Imprisoned in a sack made of his own skin for eight hundred years. Even in Death City, Hanayo was surprised to hear something this macabre. But since Asura had become obsessed with power, consumed the souls of so many innocent humans, and became one of the main sources of madness in the world, it wasn't like there was much for her to sympathize with, not that she was trying to in the first place.

    "So the school founded to prevent Kishins from ever arising again, trapped the first one underneath it?" Nozomi asked. "Makes no sense, I tell ya."

    "Lord Death probably had his reasons," Umi replied.

    "I don't see what reason," Hanayo argued. "A full Kishin, not like the eggs that keep popping up everywhere, is one of the most dangerous things, if not  _ the most _ dangerous thing on the planet. There are children here! We go to school here! That thing's been underneath us this whole time!"

    "Maybe the madness is why everyone gets so antsy at test time," Honoka said.

    "Too soon," Nico replied.  _ Wait, too soon since we found out about the Kishin, or too soon since Nico-chan's performance on the Ultimate Written Exam? _

    "So, what are you girls' plans for once you graduate DWMA?" Honoka asked.

    It seemed Honoka had asked that right out of the blue, and it took Hanayo very much by surprise. What were her future plans, anyway? Maybe she'd work for DWMA if she became a Death Scythe, but if she hadn't been born a weapon...

    "I want to be a pianist," Maki said, interrupting Hanayo's train of thought. "But my parents want me to be a doctor. I dunno, maybe my next meister once Nico-chan graduates will turn me into a Death Scythe."

    "Hey, I could do it!" Nico snapped.

    "Nico, you're starting your senior year pretty soon," Maki said. "And so far, we've only gone on one mission and got zero souls. It'll be impossible unless you want to get held back."

    "That's quitter's talk," Nico replied. "Anyway, my future plans are to either be recognized as DWMA's number one meister, or return to Japan and become the galaxy's number one idol."

    Everyone looked at Nico like she had just told them she saw an elephant lay an egg.  _ Nico-chan an idol? Well, I could definitely see that. I guess if she brought up the subject of idols first... _

    "If I weren't born a Demon Weapon, I too would become an idol," Hanayo added. "But since idols in Japan can't date, I would have to break up with Rin-chan in order to do it, and I don't really want to do that because I'm much too happy with her. But I could always become a singer here in America, since singers here still get to date people if they want. But I'm going to see if Rin-chan forges me into a Death Scythe first, because if so, I'll pretty much get a guaranteed career with DWMA. But I do really want to be a singer..."

    Hanayo just trailed off, so Kotori figured she'd be next to chime in.

    "I want to be a professional fashion designer!" Kotori exclaimed. "It's always been a passion of mine, so once I graduate, I'll probably go to design school somewhere."

    "I'm going to return to Japan and help out at my family's bakery," Honoka said. "Unless Umi-chan forges me into a Death Scythe, that is."

    "Seems all the weapons have said something like 'unless I become a Death Scythe', nya," Rin pointed out. "Wonder what you all would have done had you not gone to DWMA, what school would you have gone to?"

    "Otonokizaka High School, back in Tokyo," Eli immediately replied. The rest of μ's replied with "me too"s, prompting them all to look at each other with surprised expressions on their faces.

    "All of us thinking about Otonokizaka..." Nozomi said. "Perhaps it really was fate that intended all of us to meet."

    "Um, sorry to bring bad news about Otonokizaka, but my mother's the chairwoman and she says there aren't going to be any new students starting next year," Kotori said. "The school's closing."

    "What made you think that was okay to bring up, Kotori-chan? Huh?" Honoka asked. "That's my mother's alma mater, and my grandmother's alma mater... and... it's going to be gone soon."

    "When the last group graduates," Kotori replied. "They're all Hanayo-chan, Rin-chan, and Maki-chan's age, first-years, and there's barely even enough of them to fill a single class..."

    "Enough with the sad stuff!" Nico said. "Sadness brings tears, tears are water, and Maki-chan can't think about water at all given her current situation."

    "Nico-chan," Maki grumbled. "Well, whatever, I'm going to get in line for some food, anyone want to come with?"

    Honoka and Hanayo immediately raised their hands. Maki smiled, as if to say  _ "I knew you two would want to."  _

 

    And the three of them set off for the refreshment table. Hanayo, Honoka, and Maki piled up enough snacks and stuff from what little was left at the table to bring back to all of μ's. Enjoying the food together with μ's was a great way to spend the time trapped in the Independent Cube. Surrounded by friends and her girlfriend, enjoying lukewarm party fare, the only thing that would have made it better for Hanayo was there not being an Independent Cube in the first place.

    "I feel that we have a chance," Honoka began singing again in the same tune, "yes... let's push forward! I don't want to regret it later, our future lies right ahead... and I still got nothing."

    "That's okay, Honoka, take your time," Umi said.

    "Speaking of time, how long has it been, nya?" Rin asked.

    "About forty minutes, give or take," Eli replied. "I don't have a watch or anything on me."

    "Nozomi-chan, you said we'd have to wait here for an hour, right?" Rin groaned.

    "Up to an hour," Nozomi replied. "An hour is the spell's ideal, remember? Not every caster can make it last that long."

    The Independent Cube began to vanish, and when it fully dissipated, Maki wasted no opportunity to dash right out the door, among a crowd of several other students who had the same goals as her.  _ Go as fast as you can, Maki-chan, _ Hanayo thought. 

    But Maki wasn't the only one to leave the room in a hurry. Lord Death went right out to the balcony, several students following to see what was going on. Hanayo and Rin managed to squeeze their way into front row seats, the other six members of μ's that were in the room not too far behind underneath the now-scarlet sky.

 

    "Kayo-chin, look!" Rin exclaimed.

    "Who is that?" Hanayo gasped, looking at an emaciated-looking man covered in scarves made of his own flesh.

    "Is that the Kishin Lord Death was talking about?" another student asked.  _ So I guess Medusa was successful in reviving him after all. Somebody save us! _

    "It is! I think Lord Death's gonna fight him!"

    "Yeah, go Lord Death! Kick his ass!"

    Lord Death and the Kishin Asura appeared to be talking about something, taunting each other maybe, whatever it was, Hanayo and the other students were out of earshot. Lord Death Reaper Chopped Asura into the street below, but it wasn't enough to defeat him. Asura got up and flung out his flesh scarves at Lord Death, the latter tearing them apart. Asura's wounds healed almost immediately, seeping black blood for only a moment, and he flew up to blast eye-shaped beams at Lord Death. Lord Death deflected them with his hands into the streets of Death City. Buildings exploded and fires tore up the area where the deflected beams hit.

    "That better not have been where my apartment was!" a student shrieked.

    "Collateral damage is to be expected between a battle of gods," Umi said.  _ Okay, Umi-chan, but how much? _ Hanayo thought.  _ This isn't going to destroy the whole city, is it? _

    Lord Death flew back down to the streets, Asura blocking him with his scarves. Lord Death crashed into a building, before forming an energy barrier to knock Asura into the ground. Is the Kishin trying to escape? Asura dispelled the barrier, opening his mouth to reveal... well, something. If only the students were close enough to see. That something blasted some energy beams, enough for Asura to break through Lord Death's barrier once and for all and escape the city, tearing right through the crimson clouds to reveal the night sky behind them.  _ No, it can't be... _

    "Is Lord Death okay?" Rin asked.

    "Here he comes!" Honoka exclaimed. Lod Death descended down to DWMA's entrance, talking to Sid about something. Everyone sighed with relief that he was still alive.

    "What happened, why is everyone at the balcony?" Maki asked, re-entering the dance hall.

    "Oh, you were in the bathroom this whole time?" Hanayo asked.

    "You missed something incredibly amazing, nya!" Rin exclaimed. Maki sighed.

    "I bet I did, didn't I? Tell me all about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, can't believe I managed to cover almost the entire Kishin revival arc in one chapter. Helps a lot to have the POV character stuck in the Independent Cube. also guess who's gonna make an appearance next chapter!


	15. Trouble's a-brewing!

    Ever since the Kishin Asura was revived, DWMA seemed to have entered non-stop surprise mode. First surprise: three of the Death Scythes from the other branches of DWMA (Azusa Yumi from the East Asia branch, Justin Law from the Western Europe branch, and Marie Mjolnir from the Oceania branch) came to the academy for support so that  Asura could be tracked down and either re-sealed or killed as soon as possible.  Second surprise: It was confirmed by Dr. Stein that the nurse Medusa was the witch responsible for the Kishin revival, and she had been (presumably) killed in the battle underground. Third surprise: the (now former) Demon Swordmaster, Crona Gorgon, had been admitted to the school as a trial student, and was immediately placed in Class Crescent Moon. Fourth surprise: another foe from over eight hundred years ago, the heretic witch Arachne, had revived in Loew Village, and her organization, Arachnophobia, has been patiently waiting for all this time so that when Arachne returned, they could pick up right where they left off. So now DWMA had the Kishin and Arachnophobia to deal with.

    Thanks to all this, lessons for the past two months have mostly just been combat practice, combat practice, and more combat practice. Which is what Umi had normally been doing as μ's practice on weekends, so she had to switch to μ's practice sessions being academic study, which mostly turned out to be everyone doing homework in the library together. But it was a lot more fun than just doing homework in her dorm room with Honoka and Kotori, so Umi didn't mind how that turned out one bit. That didn't bother her, but other than the threat, there was something else that did. Kotori had become downright antsy, and she never really told anyone exactly why. In the beginning, Umi chalked it up to  _ "oh, the Kishin had just been revived and now Arachnophobia's active again for the first time in eight hundred years, it must be the double threat" _ , but it tended to spike most when Kotori was in the cafeteria, or whenever she had to walk by the door to Class Crescent Moon. Honoka made the realization first, but she said Umi should be the one to ask Kotori about it. So one day in the hall on the way to lunch, she did.

 

    "Kotori, are you afraid of the trial student in Class Crescent Moon?" Umi asked. Kotori froze right up. Honoka put a hand on Kotori's shoulder.

    "It's okay, they're not here," she said.

    "I know they're not!" Kotori replied. "Their entire class plus a few from our class are off who knows where in the Arctic for the BREW."

    "I'm still bitter we didn't get picked for that," Honoka added. "A-RISE did, why not us?"

    "Yeah, it's completely,  _ compleeetely _ unfair," Kotori replied. Umi sighed.  _ Honoka, you may not realize you're doing this, but... _

    "Kotori, you're dodging my original question," Umi said.

    "Really?" Kotori asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.  _ She doesn't normally do that,  _ Umi thought. "Well, I guess I... okay, Umi-chan, I'm afraid of them!"

    There was a pause, both Honoka and Umi expecting Kotori to go on further. They knew Kotori's reason for her fear, the attack in Florence, and that just until recently, Crona had been working for the enemy. 

    "I know they work for us now, but I still get a little nervous sometimes," Kotori said. "Even Hanayo-chan's stopped getting nervous about them after the Arachnophobia thing became more of a threat. Aargh, I'm the only one left in μ's, aren't I?"

    "Do you want to face your fear?" Umi asked.

    "Eventually, yes," Kotori replied as the three girls walked into the cafeteria. "Come on, let's go get lunch."

_  I know for sure now, _ Umi thought.  _ And Kotori wanting to face her fear is very admirable. I'm still nervous about everything going on too, so I should follow her example and face it head-on, right? But which fear should I face first? _

    Umi took a break from her thoughts to order her lunch, a grilled chicken salad with tomatoes. Kotori ordered a bowl of soba, and Honoka, deciding to try something new, ordered steak fajitas. And they smelled delicious. Umi almost wished she had ordered them.

    Since Rin, Hanayo, Nico, and Maki were on a mission together this week, Umi only had to scan for Nozomi and Eli to find a seat. She didn't see them at all, and despite the absence of several students, most of the tables were already full. Except for one, which only had one student sitting at it. A skinny kid with lavender hair, dressed in black, the only food in front of them being a single serve bag of cheese-flavored crackers from a vending machine. Wait, Umi recognized that kid from somewhere...

    "Wait, is that..." she began.

    "Who?" Kotori asked.

    "It is!" Honoka exclaimed. "The BREW mission must not have been open to trial students or something. Well, Kotori-chan, you're gonna face your fear sooner than you thought, since this is the only table open."

    Kotori gulped.

    "Is that so?" she asked, looking around the cafeteria again. "Well, it's just eating lunch at the same table as them, so it c-can't be too bad, right?"

    Umi, Honoka, and Kotori all sat down in a row on the opposite side of the table from Crona, who looked surprised at three complete strangers sitting at the table with them.

   "Is it not okay to sit here?" Umi asked. Crona looked around.

   "There doesn't seem to be anywhere else, so I guess it's fine," they replied. Up close and in person, Crona definitely looked different than that police sketch Umi remembered from all those months ago. It was still a mostly accurate sketch, but their face was a lot softer in real life, and their eyes had that shape where they just looked tired and sad. Umi couldn't tell whether that was just their expression, or whether their eyes just always looked like that. Maybe if the conversation turned casual enough that they could smile...

    "Hey, are you okay?" Honoka asked, clearly noticing Crona's weary expression. Which quickly turned to shock. Their deep blue eyes seemed to change color to a much icier shade, something Umi thought was physically impossible for a person's eyes to do. "You look like you're about to break out into a cold sweat or something, is there something wrong?"

    "N-no," Crona replied. "Everything's fine."

_ They look more scared than Kotori does, _ Umi thought.  _ Why? Not like we're that scary or anything. Are we? _

    "Are you sure, because it sure doesn't look that way..."

    "Honoka-chan, don't bother them," Kotori said. "I'm sorry about her."

    "Who the hell are these people?" a voice asked, before something black and white burst from Crona's back, materializing into a form that had the exact same "X" face as the sketch of the Demon Sword, but he was a lot smaller now.

    "HYEEEEEEK!" Kotori and Umi both screamed. Honoka's jaw just dropped. Crona flinched at the screams.

    "Whoa, these girls are a  _ lot _ prettier than the boring-looking ones you usually hang out with, Crona," the strange creature said. "Are you going to ditch them for these three? I wouldn't blame you."

    "No, Ragnarok, I'm not going to... they're just sitting here for lunch today," Crona said. _ I hope that thing...Ragnarok... didn't just flirt with us, _ Umi thought, feeling sick to her stomach.  _ What a creep. _

    "Oh... well, are you gonna finish those?" Ragnarok asked, looking down at Crona's single serve bag of cheese crackers.

    "You can have them," Crona replied, handing Ragnarok the bag. He began messily chowing down on them, revealing that he had a huge, slobbery tongue. Umi couldn't tear her eyes away from the horrifying sight, it was like seeing a wreck on the highway, impossible to turn away from. Just by watching him for a second, Umi determined that the Demon Sword was much more terrifying than his meister. It took Ragnarok a mere ten seconds to finish what was left of the single serve bag, after Crona had spent what seemed like it had to have been at least several minutes just picking at it.  _ Come to think of it, they haven't eaten a single bite since Honoka, Kotori, and I sat down, _ Umi thought, taking yet another bite of her chicken salad. Since there wasn't heavy dressing on it, she took out her notes from this morning's classes, getting a pen out of her bag to underline anything important. It was a new pen she had only bought the week before, black with a gold tip. Umi began underlining a few details, before hearing someone bump the table. Thinking Honoka had hit her knee, Umi immediately looked up to see what was wrong. Honoka was completely fine. Kotori was completely fine. Crona still seemed off, so they must have been the one who bumped it. For whatever reason.

    "Why'd you jump like that?" Honoka asked, confirming Umi's hypothesis. "It's just a pen."

    "Yeah, just..." Crona replied. "Just a pen."

    "See, nothing to worry about," Umi added.  _ Why were they afraid of my pen? Is there some sort of pen-related unpleasant memory I don't know about? _

    "Yeah, it's just a pen," Crona repeated. "Ragnarok, we should go, since we're done eating and there's probably people wanting our seat."

    "What's gotten into you  _ this time _ ?" Ragnarok asked, tossing the empty cheese cracker bag down, where it landed in Kotori's soba. "You three go throw this out for us, okay?"

    "Ragnarok!" Crona said, using a plastic fork to lift the empty and soaked bag out. "I'm really sorry about him."

    "It's fine, it's fine," Kotori replied.

    "Hey, since you didn't get anything to eat, would you like one of my fajitas?" Honoka asked.

    "Don't mind if I do," Ragnarok replied, yanking the fajita out of Honoka's hand and pretty much eating it whole as Crona walked away.

    "That was for..." Honoka began, sighing. "I don't like that little man."

    "Yeah," Kotori agreed. "But I'm honestly surprised that his meister was the same kid that killed all those people in Italy. They seemed so jumpy and harmless like Hanayo-chan, but with a cold aura."

    "I definitely think there's more to them than that," Umi replied. "More that they didn't tell us."

    "Yeah, with both a jumpy and cute side and a possible scary side, they're more of a dark Umi-chan than a dark Hanayo-chan," Honoka said.

    "Dark  _ me _ ?" Umi gasped. "Come on, I'm not like them at all," she said.  _ I don't even have a scary side, do I? _ Umi thought, just as Nozomi and Eli arrived at the table with lunch of their own.

    "Sorry we're late," Eli said.

    "You'll never believe the mission we found on the mission board, it was perfect for us!" Nozomi said. "Wanna hear about it?"

 

    The mission was for a pair of twin Kishin eggs in Russia, Kamchatka to be exact. One of them, the older twin, reportedly had elongated claw-like nails on the left hand, while the younger twin had them on the right. And no other special powers than that with either of them. For meisters like Umi and Eli, those two would definitely be easy targets. Eli even said the flights to and from Kamchatka would barely take as long as the mission itself. That was what sold Honoka, and after it sold Honoka, Kotori and Umi were soon to follow.

 

    "Hello, Russia!" Honoka exclaimed. "Eli-chan, is this the place where your grandmother lives?"

    "No," Eli replied.

    "Really? I thought she was Russian so..." Honoka said.

    "Honoka, it's the largest country in the world in terms of land mass," Umi replied.

    "Yeah, my grandmother lives elsewhere in the country," Eli added. "I'd have suggested we stop to visit her otherwise."

    "Everybody got their jackets on before we leave the airport?" Kotori asked.

    "Looks like it," Nozomi replied, zipping hers up. 

    It wasn't snowy outside, or anywhere near as cold as it would have been had Umi and the others been picked for the BREW mission, but it was still much colder than it was back in Death City. But the twin Kishin eggs were not in the main part of the city, so the girls had to take some public transportation to get to the outskirts of town where they were last spotted. Eli's knowledge of the Russian language proved to be very useful here, and she was unanimously voted to be the group's main talker/interpreter. A normal mission. Normal nerves. Taking this mission definitely felt like a return to normalcy on Umi's part. Not that Nozomi and Eli would have selected another meister, weapon, and weapon trio to go with them, with the other four ninths of μ's away on a mission of their own. Her thoughts still on missions, Umi trailed to the back of her mind, where she had a small concern about the BREW mission picks. Eli was towards the top of the class, able to hold her own with Tsubasa. And when she transferred to EAT, Umi was the number one ranked female meister of that year's transfers. Why then, weren't either of them picked? (Though Nico and Rin were still skilled meisters, they both had less serious demeanors than Umi and Eli so Umi chalked them not getting picked up to underestimation)

    "Eli, I know I should be focusing on the current mission at hand, but I was wondering if you had heard anything about anyone in μ's being picked for the BREW mission," Umi said.

    "Actually, Nozomi and I were asked to go," Eli replied.

    "Seriously?" Honoka exclaimed.

    "Why then? Why didn't you go?" Kotori asked. Umi understood Kotori's concern. After all, a mission like that seemed like it would be quite a hefty privilege to be asked to join.

    "Because not all of μ's was invited," Nozomi replied.

    "If we were going to go to something so important, we will all go together, or none of us at all," Eli added. "That's what μ's means for us, isn't it?"

    Before Umi could reply, there was a rustle in the grass.

    "Already?" Umi asked. "Honoka! Kotori!"

    "Yes!" Kotori exclaimed.

    "Got it!" Honoka added, both her and Kotori transforming into their weapon forms. Umi drew Honoka's string, an arrow in hand.

    "Uh, girls?" Eli asked, as a Kamchatka brown bear emerged from the grass. "Okay, that's not our target."

    "But harmless," Umi said, trying as hard as she could to keep her arms from trembling. "Right?"

    "Be still, be very still," Nozomi said. "Don't show any fear or hostility, and maybe it'll just walk away. I read on Wikipedia that they don't usually attack humans."

    Cautiously, Umi, Eli, and Nozomi stood, hoping that Nozomi's brief look to Wikipedia on the plane wouldn't fail them. The bear looked over right at Umi.  _ Oh no, oh no, oh no, _ she thought, trying to remember if making eye contact with bears makes them angry.  _ Nozomi said not to show fear, Nozomi said not to show fear. _ Umi gulped. The bear took a small step to the side.  _ Honoka, if you can hear me, jump out of weapon form and try to scare it if it comes any closer... ah, it's walking away, _ Umi thought, watching the bear walk off.

    "Oh, thank goodness," Kotori said.

    "Let's wait a few minutes for the bear to go off and do its own thing before we go forward," Eli said. "We were lucky this time, and I don't ever want to be that close to a bear outside of a zoo ever again."

    "Same for me," Umi replied. "That was intense."

 

    Soon the five girls were off to find their targets, walking off in a different direction than the bear went. Umi closed her eyes as she walked and tried to sense the Kishin eggs' souls. Four human souls around her, those were her friends. A few animals in the general area, but no Kishin eggs within Umi's range.

    "Eli, can you sense where they are?" Umi asked.

    "Not yet," Eli replied. "Kishin eggs can't cloak their souls like witches can with Soul Protect as far as I know, so they must just be out of my range," she said. 

    "Nozomi, what are you getting with your spiritual powers?" Umi asked.

    "They don't work like Soul Perception," Nozomi replied. "I don't feel any sort of ominous auras nearby, so we should probably just keep going. My intuition says west."

    Honoka partially de-transformed, her head and neck popping out from the tip of her bow.

    "West, west," she said, looking around. "It's too cloudy out, I can't see the sun!"

    "You shouldn't be trying to look directly at it anyway," Umi replied. Honoka put her head back.  _ Okay, if you can't see the sun, the way to figure out which way is west... _ Umi took a compass out of her jacket pocket. Currently, the group was going northwest. "West is this way, Nozomi," Umi said, pointing out the direction.

    "I knew that," Nozomi replied. "My spiritual sense told me."

    Umi thought Nozomi must be a human compass or something. What exactly were the extents of her spiritual powers, anyway? She said it came from an extremely diluted form of subconscious magic from having a witch as a distant ancestor, but how much of it was magic anyway? Umi wasn't worried for her safety if Nozomi turned out to have some more overt witch power from that ancestry, because she knew Nozomi wouldn't hurt any of her friends on purpose. But Nozomi joked around a lot, so maybe the human compass part wasn't... was it? Umi reminded herself to have a long talk with Nozomi to learn more about her power.

    "I saw them!" Eli exclaimed.

    "What?" Umi and Nozomi both gasped.

    "Yeah, this way!" Eli said, pointing west. "Nozomi, transform!"

    "Okay!" Nozomi replied. transforming into her weapon form. Her blade gleamed in Eli's hand. Now that Honoka, Kotori, and Nozomi were all transformed, this mission could really get down to business. Umi and Eli ran off westward, Eli running faster than Umi due to Nozomi being a melee weapon. Umi looked at Eli running ahead, watching her speed, and how nimble she was. Worry built up inside of Umi. This was her first mission with another meister, and with her weapons being ranged and Eli specializing in close combat, Umi couldn't shake the possibility of friendly fire happening. _ I'm not going to end up shooting Eli, am I? _ Umi thought, a horrible image entering her mind.

    "Umi-chan, move!" Honoka yelled. Umi snapped back to reality.  _ No, no, I'm sure we can work out a system with cover... crap, we're out in the middle of the grass, no cover in sight! Wait, what was a bear doing out here, don't they usually live in more wooded areas? No Umi, don't panic. Panicking will only make it worse, and you'll be more likely to shoot wrong by accident. Focus on the path ahead. Being an archer requires focus. Focus! _

 

    Running, running, running. Running until she nearly dropped. Just how far away did Eli see them from? What were the limits of her Soul Perception range? Umi's was about three hundred meters before everything starts to get fuzzy, so if Eli's was more. Umi groaned. She had  _ definitely  _ run more than three hundred meters by now. What were the averages for Soul Perception anyway? Was Umi above average? Horribly below? Where did Eli fit on the scale?

    "Eli, how much longer do we have to keep running?" Umi asked.

    "Not much longer," Eli replied. "They seem to have stopped."

    "Stopped?" Umi asked.

    "Yeah, we can just walk from here," Eli replied. "But I want you to stop on my signal because you're an archer, got it?"

    "Got it," Umi said.

    Umi and Eli kept walking through the grass. Umi tried concentrating, and with her Soul Perception, she could see the Kishin eggs now. They were in one place, together. If Eli's ambush plan was going to work, she and Umi would catch them off guard, and the mission would be over within a minute of sighting them. But that was the best case scenario. Umi knew what was more likely to happen, but she tried to keep the worst case scenario out of her mind. Because it does not bode well to dwell on the worst case scenario in the heat of a mission. 

    "Keep going, keep going," Eli said, pushing some grass out of the way. And there they were, the two Kishin eggs. Tearing apart a medium-sized mammal that was long past the point of being identifiable. Umi felt like she was going to be sick.

    "Umi-chan, you should probably draw Honoka-chan out," Kotori said. Umi nodded in understanding, drawing out the bow string. If she could get one of them... but before she could fire, they noticed her and Eli. Blood dripping down their claws, they stood up to face the girls. Eli stood up to her full height.

    "We are Eli Ayase and Umi Sonoda from DWMA," Eli began. "With our weapon partners Nozomi, Honoka, and Kotori, we will strike you down in the name of madness prevention!"

_ Why do you have to go do a speech? _ Umi thought.  _ At least we're not with Nico. _

    The twin Kishin eggs both ran right up to Eli, both of them flinging their claw hands at her. Eli quickly blocked them with Nozomi's blade, and kicked one of them in his ankle, sending him down onto the ground. His twin sister then slashed her claw hand at Eli again, and without thinking, Umi fired. The arrow sailed just past Eli into the second Kishin egg's shoulder. She didn't even act like she felt any pain, but she was stunned for long enough that Eli could slash at her brother. This time it was he who blocked her, smacking Nozomi out of her hand.

    "Nozomi!" Eli exclaimed, before being socked upside the back of her head by the female twin's normal hand. Eli swung around to punch her back, dazed for only a second. She then leapt back to the side to grab Nozomi and slice the brother's ankle. It was now that Umi drew her bow and fired again, an arrow sailing into the brother's shoulder, the one for his clawed arm.  _ Lucky hit, _ Umi thought.

    "Soul Resonance!" Eli and Nozomi both yelled. Nozomi's blade tripled in size and began to glow a soft blue-violet, and Eli slashed right at the brother.

    "Spiritual Cutter!" Eli shouted, slashing him in two. The Kishin egg vanished into blackened ribbons, leaving behind only his soul, glowing red against Eli and Nozomi. Eli turned around, Umi watching her back.  _ Wait, where did the other twin, the sister, go? _ Umi thought.  _ Does she have some sort of super speed like the one Rin told me she faced on her first mission? _

    Nozomi's blade fizzled back into its normal form, her reflection appearing to act as another pair of eyes for Eli. Eli and Nozomi both seemed to jump back, Eli's expression especially showing fear. Her hand slowly came up, pointing behind Umi and shaking.

    "What? Eli, what is i-" Umi began, before a hand clasped over her mouth. Umi knew it couldn't be Kotori or Honoka playing tricks on her, Honoka was still in her hand and Kotori was still wrapped snugly around her torso. So there was only one person it could be. Umi slowly turned her head to see the remaining Kishin egg starting at her with glowing red eyes and a sadistic smile. Umi let out a muffled scream, dropping Honoka to the ground. The Kishin egg pulled her clawed hand right in front of Umi's chest, preparing to stab her, possibly even rip out her heart. What a terrifying way to go out. Frozen in fear, Umi tried to get the strength to fight back. But Honoka had other plans, going right into human form and grabbing an arrow from Kotori's quiver.

    "Don't even  _ think _ about hurting Umi-chan!" Honoka screamed in anger, stabbing the Kishin egg right through her forehead. A bit of the Kishin egg’s blood splattered onto Umi's face and shoulder, until she too vanished into black ribbons, leaving behind only her soul. Kotori and Nozomi returned to human form. The fight was over. Umi, or rather, Honoka, and Eli had won.

    "Umi-chan, are you okay?" Kotori asked.

    "I think that just took five years off my life," Umi replied. clutching her chest as she took a few deep breaths to regain composure. "Holy crap."

    "Umi!" Eli shouted. "Umi, oh my goodness."

    "You nearly died, Umi-chan," Nozomi said.

    "I know," Umi replied. Honoka and Kotori looked at the soul floating in front of them.

    "Okay, so Nozomi-chan's gonna get the first soul since Eli-chan was the one who killed  _ that _ Kishin egg," Honoka began. "But for  _ this  _ one..."

    Honoka looked up at Umi. Umi looked back at her, as if to say "of course, who else could it go to?". Honoka beamed and held the soul in both her hands. She watched Nozomi swallow hers whole, before trying to do the same.

    "Ah, Honoka-chan!" Nozomi exclaimed. "Don't try to unhinge your jaw, just smoosh it in there."

    "Yeah, please don't hurt yourself," Umi added.

    "I won't," Honoka insisted, shoving the soul in and swallowing it whole, just like Nozomi had done. Honoka looked like she was about to gag for a second, before pushing it back down the rest of the way. "Okay, that is  _ not _ a pleasant experience," she said. Kotori laughed.

    "Yeah, the first soul is always the hardest," Kotori said.

    Umi smiled at her two partners. Finally, Honoka and Kotori both had souls. Now there was only ninety-eight to go. For the both of them. So Umi now had to collect one hundred and ninety-six more Kishin egg souls,and two witch souls. Umi sighed. At this rate, she'd be lucky if even  _ one _ of them got to become a Death Scythe by the time they all graduated in two years. But it was doable. Not impossible, but doable. And with all this facing fears head-on that Umi, Honoka, and Kotori would be doing for this, and (hopefully) assisting in the Kishin Asura and/or Arachnophobia's defeat, well, let's just say the trio was going to have to work twice as hard as the others. But that wouldn't be a problem for Umi.

 

    In fact, she was pretty sure she was going to love it.


	16. Baba Yaga!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter this time! Or rather, it's kind of at the old length because it's important and there was a lot to fit in

    This was it, the mission of a lifetime. The heretic witch Arachne had found the Kishin Asura and they had apparently teamed up. To stop them before their combined power could cause the world to fall into madness, DWMA was sending all its EAT students and available staff to the Amazon. And this time, that included μ's. Eli was overjoyed. A major mission that they could all do together, this was all she could ever hope for. And if they were the ones to deliver the final blow, why, μ's would be heroes of the highest caliber! Of course, it would be most likely that the girls would be doing grunt work, but slipping into a fantasy like Honoka or Nico would was something even Eli could not escape. Ah, to save the world, together as nine, how wonderful would that be?

 

    "Nyaaa, it's so humid out here," Rin said.

    "Any place would be humid compared to Death City," Maki replied.

    "But Maki-chan, we're in a rain forest, that's the complete opposite of a desert," Hanayo argued. "So this is especially humid."

    "Complete opposite?" Honoka asked. "What about the Arctic? Since deserts are hot and dry but the Arctic is cold and wet."

    "You guys, quit it," Umi said. "We're on the most serious mission we've ever taken."

    "Umi is right," Eli said.  _ But since I was determined squad leader, I probably should have been the one to tell everyone. Well, at least I know μ's is gonna be in good hands after Nozomi, Nico, and I graduate next year. _

    "Come on, Elicchi," Nozomi said. "We don't have to move out until we're radioed in, we can relax for a second to ease the tension."

    Eli sighed, looking around. μ's didn't look anywhere near ready for the mission. Honoka, Kotori, Nozomi, Maki, and Hanayo were all still in human form, Nico was chowing down on a protein bar, pretty much everyone save for Umi and Eli were sitting... well, at least the vegetation was hiding them all from Arachnophobia. Eli could see the souls of several humans off in the distance, accompanied by pounding and clashing. Fighting was already going on near her, so it was only inevitable that they'd be called in. But the radio gave no sound. Eli tried pressing the button, and there was only static. She turned it off.  _ If it's just static, it's no use, _ she thought. All she could do was wait diligently for the call, and be prepared at a moment's notice in case of an ambush. Eli tried pushing the button for the radio again, but instead of static, there was silence. She fiddled a bit with the knobs, hoping that it was just her signal that got messed up.

    "Come on, come on," she said to herself.

    "Are you having trouble with that?" Kotori asked.

    "No, the knob must've just been jostled in my pocket," Eli replied. Kotori looked at Eli's cargo shorts for a second. Out of everyone in μ's, Kotori knew the most about clothes.

    "Yeah, the knob could've been moved by accident if it were loose to begin with," Kotori said, noticing how easily Eli was jostling the knob around.

    "Everyone, have you all taken your madness suppressants?" Nozomi asked. "I took mine when we got here, but I know at least Nicocchi didn't."

    "Jeez, Nozomi," Nico said, taking one of the pills from Nozomi. "Ugh, do I have to dry-swallow it?" she asked. "I hate doing that."

    "Just get a lot of spit in your mouth, Nico-chan," Honoka suggested. Nico sighed, and closed her mouth. After about thirty seconds, she pushed the pill through her lips and swallowed. And in those thirty seconds, Eli still received no signal. The sounds of the fighting grew more intense, and several of the human souls began to vanish from Eli's view.  _ Okay, if I don't get the call in two minutes...  _ Eli thought, hearing a rustling in the bushes nearby.

 

    "What are you doing?" Tsubasa yelled as she ran over to μ's. In her hands she had Anju and Erena, both in their weapon forms, near-matching combat knives. "Your caller's dead, hurry and join the fight!"

    And with that, Tsubasa ran off to join the fray. _ Wait, our caller...  _ Eli thought.  _ No wonder we weren't called in. _

    "Everyone, get up and get ready!" Eli exclaimed. "Nozomi, I need you to transform right now!"

    Nozomi walked up to Eli with a smile on her face, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

    "That was for good luck," Nozomi said, transforming into a sword. Eli grabbed on to Nozomi's hilt, noticing Rin and Hanayo both had the same idea for a quick kiss of good luck before Hanayo transformed. Kotori walked over to Honoka and tried to get her to turn around, but Honoka was too focused on the task at hand, and transformed. Kotori looked disappointed for a second, before transforming herself. Nico looked at Maki and leaned in close to her. Maki leaned back, turning bright red.

    "Hey, transform," Nico said.

    "Ah, um, yeah," Maki replied. "Look, it's not like I thought you were going to kiss me or anything, Nico-chan."

    "What brought that up?" Nico asked. "We're not even da... oh, was it because everyone else was smooching? Maki-chan..."

    "Shut up," Maki replied, transforming.

 

    "μ's, start charging now!" Eli yelled, hacking some vegetation out of the way. She, Nico, and Rin ran towards the fray, Umi running off to find some cover so she could provide support. Explosions were going off, and several Arachnophobia enchanters were riding in on their golems. But the golems weren't invincible, several of them proving ineffective against Demon Weapons, as long as the user was hitting them in the joints. Eli noticed this in a flash.  _ Alright, looks like I know what I'm targeting. _

    "Aaah, this is too much!" Hanayo screamed. "Somebody save me!"

    "We're the ones saving people, Kayo-chin!" Rin exclaimed. "Arachnophobia, we're going to destroy you, nya!"

    Eli smirked, admiring Rin's enthusiasm. A glowing silver arrow shot out from somewhere. Umi must have found her cover. Another arrow flew by, piercing one of the enchanters in the throat. He fell from his golem, but before he hit the ground, he vanished, leaving behind his soul. A human soul. Eli almost seemed shocked at this. Of course they were killing humans out here, but they were the enemy. Just because the enemy wasn't a Kishin egg didn't mean it couldn't be taken out. A threat is a threat. A golem swung at Eli, and she nimbly dodged it, slicing its hand right off with Nozomi's blade.

    "Eli-chan, I'm going to go target the enchanters!" Rin exclaimed, running off. Nico shot another enchanter right off his golem.  _ Of course Rin, Nico, and Umi would all be going for the enchanters, _ Eli thought.  _ Their weapons won't be effective against the golems, so it's their only shot. All I have to do... _ Eli thought, running up to cut the leg off another golem,  _...is finish off the golems before other enchanters can get to them. _ Eli looked out of the corner of her eye to see Tsubasa dodging hit after hit, unable to get close enough with her knives.

    "Tsubasa!" Eli shouted. "Go for the enchanters!"

    "I'm trying!" Tsubasa shouted back. "Oh, and there's a spider on your leg!"

    Eli slapped that thing right off and smooshed it. The heretic witch Arachne was notorious for using tracking spiders, and there was no way in hell Eli was going to let her spy on her every move. Although, she wished for a brief moment that she had seen the spider before people started shouting out their battle strategies. But she had no time to dwell on that, she had golems to take out.

    "Elicchi, now!" Nozomi exclaimed.

    "Okay," Eli replied.

    "SOUL RESONANCE!" Eli and Nozomi both shouted at the top of their lungs. Nozomi's blade changed to its resonated form, and the two girls launched Spiritual Cutter out at a golem's arms. They ended up splitting it in half, causing an explosion that knocked an unfortunately nearby Nico out into a bush. Eli gasped in horror.

    "I'm not dead!" Nico exclaimed. Maki returned to human form to help Nico up to her feet, before transforming back. Thank goodness I didn't end up accidentally killing one of my friends, Eli thought, relieved beyond ever before.

    Rin had somehow made her way up to the top of one of the golem's heads, whacking its enchanter off to the ground.

    "This one is mine, nya!" Rin exclaimed. Nothing happened.

    "Rin-chan, I think you need to have some sort of magic in order to use these," Hanayo replied. "We're not moving."

    "Aww," Rin said, getting down from there. "Eli-chan, this one's all yours!"

    "All right!" Eli said, running off to it. "Spiritual Cutter!"

    And with one slash, the golem's head came right off.

    "Hey, Elicchi," Nozomi said.

    "What?" Eli asked, running to try and take out the next golem.

    "Pretty messed up that Arachnophobia is using these kind of things as war weapons," Nozomi replied, noticing one of the golems punch into the ground hard enough to knock Tsubasa back with the shockwave. "Golems were meant to be protectors, and here we have an evil organization using them to try and beat up children."

    An arrow shot off from Umi's cover position, taking out the enchanter who used the golem against Tsubasa. Eli sliced off the legs of the nearest golem to her, before running over to finish that other one off. But more kept coming. How many of these are Arachnophobia even sending? Eli thought, watching one of her classmates, the boy who led classroom discussion back after the Florence attack, get punched in the back by one of the golems. There was a violent cracking sound, and he did not move after that. Trying not to think about how she just watched one of her classmates die, Eli kept trying to focus on fighting. It was a pity about the poor boy, Eli didn't even know his name. Someone with his whole life ahead of him, now doomed to forever be an empty seat in a class that would never be the same again. His weapon partner went back into a partially transformed mode, using his axe blade of a hand to try and block more attacks, until he too was struck down.

    "Take that, you piece of sh-" Nico began. 

    "Nico, watch behind you!" Eli said, noticing how Nico was about to be attacked from behind and tackling her out of the way.

    "Yeah, thanks," Nico replied. Eli helped her up and returned to the fray. All this running was starting to tire Eli out, but if she stopped moving, she'd be easier to hit, and she saw how easy it was to be crushed under stone fists.

    "SOUL RESONANCE!" Nico and Maki shouted. This was it, Eli could finally see the true power of the "Nico-Nico Love Nico Blast". Sure, she had gone on a mission with Nico and Maki shortly after Arachne revived, but Nico just shot that Kishin egg normally. So this could finally be it.

    Nico and Maki's wavelengths began to crackle around Nico. Despite their constant bickering, they had what looked to be a really, really powerful resonance. A familiar glint appeared in Nico's eyes.

    "Nico-Nico-Nii!" she began.  _ Oh, it's just this, _ Eli thought, going back to fully paying attention to her fight. "I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart! Eeeh? It's finally time for the heart-stoppingly adorable Nico-Nii to battle something as powerful as all of Arachnophobia? Piece~ of~ cake~! I'm Nico-Nii, and I'll-gwaagh!"

    Midway through the Nico-Nico-Nii, Nico got knocked back, hard, skidding into the ground. She didn't move for a second, so Eli feared the worst.

    "She Nico-Nico-died just as she Nico-Nico-lived," Nozomi said.

    "Nozomi, too soon!" Eli snapped.

    "I'm not dead..." Nico groaned, weakly firing off a bolt into a random direction. Her resonance with Maki faded out, and Tsubasa ran by her side to cover her.  _ Okay, Nico's fine, Nico's fine... _ Eli thought.  _ I have to keep fighting. I can't stop, even though all this running is starting to become tiring, and there's no end in sight. Damn it, why is Nozomi the only weapon that can take out the golems? _

    "SOUL RESONANCE!" Rin and Hanayo both yelled. Hanayo's weapon form began to glow and increase in size. Rin ran up another golem and took out the enchanter. One  _ "thwack" _ and he was down. Rin stood at the top of the golem's head, raising Hanayo up with both her hands.

    "Supernova Smash!" Rin shouted, leaping up in the air as she swung Hanayo down. The golem was no match for Hanayo's resonated form, being smashed straight into the ground and its head turning into rubble. Rin took another swing and took out the golem's body. She kept her resonance going with Hanayo as she ran to go smash some more out of Arachnophobia. Eli was glad she'd be getting the support. Sweat dripped down her arms, her legs, her face. Her arm muscles were already starting to ache. But there was still too much out there for Eli to rest. 

    "Elicchi, are you still doing okay?" Nozomi asked.

    "There's too many of them," Eli replied, slashing another one's hand off. "I'm not sure just the few of us there are can keep this up forever."

    "Should we try luring them to another group, nya?" Rin asked.

    "No," Tsubasa replied. "The others are probably too busy attacking the cas-"

    And before Tsubasa could finish getting out the word "castle", the castle itself seemed to be... becoming taller? No, that's impossible. Buildings can't do that. But Baba Yaga Castle seemed to defy the impossible, rising up to what looked to be a hidden mech form, a giant cannon of sorts forming out of the top. Everyone, even the Arachnophobia fighters stopped to look at it.

    "What is this? I don't understand it," Maki said. "How could the castle turn into...that?"

    "It's the madness, isn't it?" Tsubasa asked. "We're going mad."

    "LOVE ARROW... SHOOT!" Umi shouted from her cover position. A tricolored arrow shot off in the direction of Baba Yaga Castle, hitting a golem in the process. It exploded, taking its enchanter out with it.

    "There's an archer back there!" a different enchanter exclaimed.  _ Hasn't Umi already shot off several arrows and you just now notice her? _

    Before Eli could decide whether she wanted to point that out, Baba Yaga Castle shot out a giant laser into the rainforest, setting fire to the ground and causing explosions everywhere. Wherever that thing hit, there couldn't have been any survivors.

    "Everyone, scatter!" Eli shouted, running off into the bushes. The castle fired a second laser, taking out another chunk of the landscape. It seemed like they were just shooting wherever, not caring whether friends or foes were in the path. 

 

    Eli hoped she was out of sight, and sat down, panting. Her feet ached from all this running around, and her arm muscles were beginning to feel sore. After only fighting for a little bit, Eli didn't think she'd have tired out so soon, but she had been fighting harder and faster than she had ever fought before. Her only hope was that the others made it out. A third laser tore through the place she and her friends were fighting in only moments earlier, and Eli felt like her heart was going to stop. If they had remained there just a minute longer, they would have been killed.

    "Please have all gotten to safety," Eli said. Nozomi reflected out onto her blade.

    "Don't worry, Elicchi," Nozomi said. "If I know μ's, I know we all want to live to fight another day. A-RISE, too. They're all gonna be alright."

    And as if on cue, Umi ran in right next to Eli, both her weapon partners with her. 

    "Eli, Nozomi, are you two okay?" Umi asked.

    "Yeah, we are," Eli replied. "You three?"

    "I nearly got hit with the end of a laser, but I'm fine," Umi said.

    "We're okay, too!" Honoka replied, partially de-transforming her head out from the top of her bow. She smiled at Eli.

    "Yup, not a scratch!" Kotori added, her arm coming out of the side of her quiver and giving Eli a thumbs up. Honoka and Kotori fully returned their parts to their weapon forms, right as Rin dove through the bushes and rolled in, Hanayo's chain jingling behind her.  _ I thought I said for us to scatter... _ Eli thought.

    "Everybody okay, nya?" Rin asked, dusting dirt off her kneecaps.

    "We're all okay," Umi replied. "You two?"

    "A bit shaken, but otherwise fine," Hanayo said, reflecting on her spikes. "Nico-chan ran the other way."

    "And Tsubasa?" Eli asked.

    "Ran away in a different direction," Rin replied. "Whoever was shooting that castle laser didn't seem to care whether Arachnophobia's forces were in the way, so if we ran fast enough, maybe we could lure the laser into taking out all of Arachnophobia's forces, ny-"

    "Absolutely not!" Umi said, as another laser went off in the distance.

    "You cut me off mid-nya," Rin muttered.

    "That plan is much too risky," Umi said. "Considering that laser destroys everything in its path, who's to say we will not end up caught in the blast? Rin, I don't want you to end up sacrificing your life for nothing. I don't want any of us to."

    Before anyone else could interject, they all heard Nico screaming off into the distance. Screaming in fear as she ran over to the rest of μ's, Maki in hand, a laser barely missing them as Nico jumped aside.

    "We need to get out of here!" Nico and Maki both yelled. The castle fired another laser, its bright blue gleam piercing through the trees. Eli got up and ran with her aching legs. Umi, Rin, and Nico were not too far behind. Thanks to adrenaline, Eli wasn't hurting, she was in too much of a rush to feel the pain as she ran. Rin overtook Eli, Umi running with Eli neck-in-neck, and Nico's tiny legs forced her to bring up the rear. All four of them were screaming for the hills, running in zigzag patterns in a desperate hope to be harder to hit, right as the laser stopped. One, two three, four, Eli counted in her head. None of the meisters were hit. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, none of the weapons were hit either. μ's was safe for now. Eli looked out in front of her to see a devastated area, burned to a crisp with fires still going. They couldn't stay here for long.

    "Keep moving!" Eli shouted, pointing to an area the fires haven't touched. Yet. And suddenly, the cannon on top of Baba Yaga Castle was destroyed. Eli didn't see what destroyed it, but she heard the explosion.

    "Wait, what is  _ that _ ?" Nico asked. Eli turned around to see another giant mech, only this time, it looked a lot more... familiar.

    "Is that... Death City?" Eli asked.

    "That does it, we've gone mad," Maki said. Looking at the second mech, Eli could tell it was unmistakably Death City. Which should be in Nevada right now, not the gosh darned Amazon rainforest.  _ How and why did Lord Death even do this? _ Eli thought.  _ Unless Maki was right and we really have gone mad. But I'm seeing the same thing she is, so maybe we aren't. Are group hallucinations even a thing? _

    "We should definitely take cover," Umi said. "Don't want to get stepped on by a giant mech/robot/buildings with legs/whatever battle."

    "Yeah, yeah," Eli replied, still admittedly pretty stunned by seeing a city from another freaking  _ continent _ walk in here with  _ legs _ . But that was nothing compared to seeing it fight. Baba Yaga Castle broke from its legs and began scurrying around like a spider, the Death City Robot trying to squash it. With both its hands and lasers. More lasers shot out of Baba Yaga Castle to fight back, some landing into the city itself, but then the Death City Robot used its giant hands to flip Baba Yaga Castle over on its head. 

    For a few seconds, it seemed like it was over. But whoever was in Baba Yaga Castle managed to upright it and use electrifying threads against the Death City Robot as a counterattack. The robot's hands yanked off the threads and poked a finger into the castle. Eli couldn't see who the robot got with its finger, not with her eyes. With her Soul Perception, she did see. It was the Kishin Asura. The Death City Robot then formed teeth and swallowed Asura whole, and that appeared to be the end of it.

    Eli and the others stared at the scene, jaws slack with shock.

    "Did that thing... Death City... just eat the Kishin?" Honoka asked.

    "Is the battle over?" Hanayo asked. 

 

    μ's waited. Until Asura broke right out of the Death City Robot and went right back to Baba Yaga Castle. Everybody in μ's was too far to see exactly what was happening with their eyes, but soon, with their Soul Perception, they saw it. The heretic witch Arachne's soul had vanished, consumed by the Kishin, causing him to grow huge, huge enough to be seen from their distance. (The Death City Robot wasn't doing anything by this point, whoever was controlling it, Eli figured it would be Lord Death himself, must have been defeated by Asura)

    Asura looked like he was fighting something, maybe a few meisters?

    "Does anyone have binoculars?" Eli asked.

    "Nope," Honoka replied.

    "I left them in Death City, so technically they're right over there," Kotori added.

    "I have not brought mine," Umi said.

    "I don't even own a pair, nya," Rin said.

    "Me neither," Hanayo added.

    "Why would I, a weapon, bring binoculars to a battle?" Maki asked. "Such a ridiculous concept."

    "I didn't think I Nico-Nico-needed to," Nico added.

    "Elicchi, you'd know if I brought a pair," Nozomi said.

    "Okay, no binoculars," Eli replied. "Great."

    μ's would just have to watch this battle with the naked eye, or via a weapon reflection. (Or in the case of Honoka and Kotori, partially de-transforming themselves so their heads would pop out)

    "Kotori, your head's in place of your arrows," Umi said.

    "I didn't think there was any other place I could pop my head out of and it not look ridiculous," Kotori replied. Eli was about to say something about how it already looked ridiculous, but she decided not to. Umi rotated Kotori around so her head wouldn't block Kotori's view.

    "Woah, look at that!" Honoka exclaimed. Asura released a madness wave from his hand at his combatants, knocking them back. Eli thought they were done for, but the fight continued. Whoever was fighting him was not the type to give up easily. Asura fired another beam, and the battle seemed to stop for a few seconds. Until one combatant's soul started glowing. Asura fired a blast with his weapon at the other combatant, until the first one fired a huge dual blast of his own, nearly destroying Asura.

    "Whoever fired that blast did it!" Nico shouted.

    "Wait, not so fast, Nicocchi," Nozomi pointed out. "My spiritual sense tells me it's not over yet."

    "Aww, there's still more?" Nico asked.

    Nozomi was right, there still was more. Asura was able to return back to his full form, and injured his two opponents and their weapon partners. It seemed like the battle was over again, this time, with the opposite outcome. Eli's lip trembled, and Nozomi came out of weapon form to hug her. 

    "It's gonna be okay," Nozomi said.

    "Yeah it is, nya! Look!" Rin shouted. A third meister had risen up to try and defeat Asura, a scythe wielder. Her scythe's blade glowed brilliantly with the Kishin Hunt technique as she attempted to kill him. But the attempt did not succeed, and Asura blasted at her, her weapon taking the fall. Asura began battling the girl alone, the scale of the two once again too small to see from the distance μ's was at.  _ Come on, whoever you are, please get him! _ Eli thought, feeling that all of μ's was thinking the same thing.  _ Come on, defeat him! _

 

    And she did. The sky that was crimson with madness faded out back to its usual blue, and at the site of the battle there appeared what seemed to be hundreds, if not thousands of human souls, and one Kishin soul. Asura's soul.

 

   Now that they were sure the battle was over, the rest of the μ's weapons returned to human form. Nobody could believe it at first, but they were all overjoyed. Tears welled up in Eli's eyes. It was over, the fight was over, the dual threat of the Kishin and Arachnophobia was over... this was truly a day that would go down in DWMA's history as one of humanity's greatest victories.

 

   Whoever that girl was that defeated the Kishin, she was a hero. A hero whose courage truly showed the world that the madness of fear could not overtake it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be the end of the SE anime's timeline, but it is not the end of Melody of the Soul! There's going to be two more chapters continuing the story, including the KotoHono I promised, so stay tuned! plus even though I poked fun at the anime ending a bit, I don't actually hate it. If anything, the manga ending was the one that sucked. Madness of Boobs, what was Ohkubo thinking? Nozomi might approve though


	17. Summer Training!

    After the battle, there was peace. Classes returned to how they were pre-Kishin revival, Death City returned to its usual location, and everyone could finally get some rest. Kotori really enjoyed that Umi was no longer getting her and Honoka up at five in the morning for extra training sessions, and that she could sleep in. 

 

    Or so she thought. 

 

    About two weeks after the battle with Arachnophobia and the Kishin concluded, Umi went right back to waking up her partners early.  _ So much for a restful, easy summer, _ Kotori thought.

    "Kotori! Honoka! Time to get up!" Umi exclaimed.

    "Umi-chan..." Kotori groaned, trying to pull the covers back up to her face.

    "The Kishin is dead, why do we have to keep getting up early to train?" Honoka asked. "I want to sleep in," she said.  _ Yes, two to one! _ Kotori thought.  _ We could win by majority vote... if the "one" wasn't Umi-chan. _

    "It's seven in the morning, I let you two sleep in," Umi replied.  _ It appears "sleep in" for Umi-chan still hasn't set back to normal. The rest of μ's is probably still sleeping, too... _ "Now we can't rest any longer, we have some training to do!"

    "Training?" Kotori asked, slowly rising from her bed. "Umi-chan, are you getting more serious about making Honoka-chan and I into Death Scythes now that the Kishin's dead?"

    "Well, that's part of it," Umi replied. "But there's also the Death Fest!" she exclaimed. Kotori and Honoka both looked at Umi like she lost her mind.

    "Umi-chan, the Death Fest is on Halloween," Honoka bluntly said. "It's only the end of June, we have time." And with that, Honoka flopped right back down to bed. For her, "we have time" meant "I can sleep in for at least another hour."

    "Honoka, get up," Umi said. "While it is true that the Death Fest isn't for a few months, this year, students will be training all summer for it. Last year they didn't have one because of the 'incident' the year before, so the die-hard EAT students are going to be doubling up on their training. And DWMA's going to be doubling up on security to prevent another possible witch attack from getting out of hand."

    Kotori could start to feel the morning phlegm in her throat, and hacked it out into a tissue. She remembered that "incident", or at least most of it. Nozomi, Rin, Nico, and herself all ended up victims, and she, Rin, and Nico barely made it into EAT because of their extended hospital stay. Kotori hoped this year there wouldn't be anything like that happening again.

    Umi nudged Honoka again.

    "Honoka, are you listening to me?" she asked.

    "Can we at least have breakfast first?" Honoka asked in return.

    "You ask that every time, and I always say yes," Umi replied. "We never train on empty stomachs."

    Apparently satisfied with this, Honoka began to crawl out of bed. Now the trio's day could finally begin.

 

    The three girls changed into their casual training clothes and went to get breakfast in the dorm's shared kitchen. Honoka was overjoyed that nobody had taken the cinnamon swirl bread she bought, so she buttered some slices for everyone and put them right in the toaster. Umi got out some strawberries with a sticky note on the package reading  _ "I had some extra money, so I'm treating the dorms! - Nozomi~" _ and began cutting the leaves off and slicing them. Kotori made a mental note to thank Nozomi for the strawberries, as she poured herself and her partners some orange juice.

    Kotori, Honoka, and Umi enjoyed their breakfast, rinsed off their dishes, and then went to the front yard where μ's usually met to train. Nobody they knew was out and about at first glance, but after looking over in a different direction, Kotori could see Nico and Maki in the distance, walking towards the shooting range. 

    "Nico-chan, Maki-chan!" Honoka called out. Nico and Maki stopped for a second to look at them.

    "Honoka!" Nico said. "Where are you three headed off to?"

    "We're thinking of going to the shooting range," Umi replied.

    "Us too," Maki said. "Do you want to go together?"

    "Of course!" Kotori replied. "μ's always seems to stick together for training, don't we?"

    "Yeah, seems like we do," Nico said. Since that was the group's roots, it wasn't surprising at all. These joint sessions with Nico and Maki at the shooting range weren't at all uncommon for Kotori, Honoka, and Umi, and they were always welcomed with open arms.

 

    But once the five of them arrived, Kotori soon found that those arms wouldn't be as open as she first thought.

 

    "So is this the usual Umi training so early in the morning?" Nico asked, as Umi put on her archery glove and protective chestpiece.

    "No, this is for something specific, not just training to train," Umi replied, putting her hair up in a ponytail.

    "Serious about the Death Fest too, I take it?" Nico asked.

    "Without a doubt," Umi replied. "Make no mistake, Kotori, Honoka, and I will win it all."

    "You mean Maki-chan and I will win it all," Nico said. "This isn't going to be something μ's can win together. And if any of us is going to make it, it'll definitely be DWMA's number one meister, Nico-Nii!"

    "When are you going to stop with that 'number one meister' stuff, Nico-chan?" Maki asked.

    "When you realize I'm right," Nico replied. Maki sighed, and transformed so Nico could start shooting targets. Kotori looked over at Honoka, who looked nervous for some reason.  _ There was no way Nico-chan could've intimidated her,  _ Kotori thought.  _ So why was Honoka-chan so nervous? Still, she looks really cute like that. Oh, I think I can feel myself blushing! Control yourself, Kotori, you know the day will come when you can tell Honoka-chan how you feel... _

    "We should start shooting, too," Umi said. "Especially since in a tournament-style event like the Death Fest, an archery team like us is at a disadvantage. As I recall from watching the last one we meant to, it was really more catered to melee meister-weapon teams."

    Honoka and Kotori transformed.

    "That's true," Honoka added. "Plus you need time to draw my string, so we can't really fire rapidly like Nico-chan can."

    "Out of everyone in μ's, unless we manage to get that first shot in, we're at a disadvantage no matter how you look at it," Kotori said. "Well, unless you use one of my non-lethal arrows to stab our opponents, but I'm pretty sure you could get disqualified for not using Honoka-chan."

    "Then go with just Kotori-chan!" Honoka said. "I don't want to hold us back."

    "Absolutely not!" Umi replied. "We fight as a trio, or not at all."

    Nico smirked.  _ I guess she thinks she's gonna beat us if we get matched up together, _ Kotori thought.  _ Is Nico-chan gonna be our new rival until the Death Fest ends? _ Kotori sighed.  _ I don't want anyone in μ's to be our rival. But, I guess that's how it'll all turn out. Which means we're really going to be in trouble since we all know each other's fighting styles like the back of our hands after training together for so long. _

    Umi fired one of Kotori's arrows, hitting the target right in the bullseye. She shot a second arrow right into the first, causing it to dissipate.

    "Every time I see that, I think it's nowhere near as satisfying as splitting a wood arrow," Umi said.

    "Yeah, but at least you're not always having to go out and buy more arrows," Honoka replied. 

    "That's true," Umi said.

 

    The next forty-five minutes were just spent shooting arrows into targets, over and over and over again. Umi hoped she'd get a chance to spar with Nico to see how a Death Fest battle would work against an actual meister, but Nico and Maki had already left by that point. 

    "Hey, Nico... and she's gone," Umi said. Honoka and Kotori returned to human form. 

    "Umi-chan, you're pretty much perfect at shooting stationary targets," Kotori said. "But we're not going to be facing any of those at the Death Fest."

    "That's true," Umi replied, removing her glove and chestpiece.

    "But where are we gonna find a moving target?" Honoka asked. "Since Nico-chan's pretty much declared rivalry on us, we shouldn't leak out our strategy... the Roomba dummy!" she exclaimed. "We can go use the Roomba dummy Nozomi-chan thought up, there's still one ready for us, right?"

    "I think so," Kotori replied. "But if there wasn't, it's just a little duct tape work so it wouldn't take to long to prepare one."

    "Then I guess we're going back to the dorms," Umi said.

 

    So Kotori, Umi, and Honoka made their way back to the dorms to get a Roomba dummy and see if Eli and Nozomi, or Rin and Hanayo, were out training. (Kotori guessed that Rin and Hanayo wouldn't be, instead just trying to enjoy this day off like normal people)

    There were several training dummies littered on the lawn, the blood bags in their heads and torsos completely smashed. Eli and Nozomi weren't there, but Rin and Hanayo definitely were. The two of them were just finishing up the final touches to strap a new dummy to the Roomba, recreating once again the contraption Nozomi had insisted on making for nearly every training session μ's had ever since they first started training to get into EAT. (There was an unsuccessful campaign to name it shortly after the Ultimate Written Exam, but Eli had shut that down).

    "Okay, Rin-chan, it's up and running!" Hanayo exclaimed, taking Rin's hand and transforming into a morningstar. (Kotori remembered she'd never seen Hanayo transform  _ without _ holding Rin's hand, but nobody would dare correct Hanayo and tell her that was optional because they all thought it was so darn cute)

    Rin had a fighting glint in her eyes as the Roomba began to move around.

    "Eat morningstar, nya!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, smashing the dummy's head and toppling the contraption. Blood from the blood bag spurted out all over Rin's clothes, which were already pretty stained. Rin panted for a second, before yanking the tape off the Roomba and setting it back up, leaving the training dummy to lie in the front lawn with the others.  _ I'm going to have to do so much sewing... _ Kotori thought, eyeing the carnage.  _ But making the fake blood with Honoka-chan's going to be fun. _ Kotori couldn't help but smile, which gave Umi a worried look. Neither could read each other's mind, so Umi had no idea Kotori wasn't smiling at the mangled dummies, and Kotori had no idea what exactly Umi was so worried about.

    "Well, you two, shouldn't you be asking them something?" Honoka asked, looking right at Kotori and Umi. Umi sighed, her expression becoming more relaxed.

    "Rin, would you like to spar?" Umi asked. Rin looked at Hanayo's spikes, then back at Umi.

    "I'd rather keep practicing on the Roomba dummies," Rin replied. "It's not that I don't want to spar, nya, it's just Kayo-chin's a really dangerous weapon and I don't want to send you to the hospital, or worse."

    "I understand," Umi said.  _ Me too, _ Kotori thought. The thought of a careless accident causing either serious injury or death to any of her friends was far too much for her to handle. And the guilt Rin and Hanayo would go through would only magnify the awfulness of the situation.

    "Hey, Umi-chan," Honoka said. "If you're gonna train with Rin-chan, could you give her some pointers by yourself?" she asked. Both Umi and Kotori seemed surprised by this. Honoka usually loved training with everyone, why didn't she seem to want to join in this time?

    "Sure, but..." Umi replied.

    "I have some business with Kotori-chan," Honoka said. Kotori jumped a bit, her heart pounding.  _ Business... with me? _ she thought.  _ What exactly does she mean by that? _ Many, many possibilities went through Kotori's mind. 

    "Business?" Umi asked. "Okay, you two have fun," she said. "Unless it's serious business, then I guess, well... you get the idea."

    Honoka and Kotori both nodded.

    "Come on, Kotori-chan," Honoka said, motioning for Kotori to follow her.

 

    Kotori and Honoka walked down the sidewalk and through the city, all the way to DWMA's front steps. Since Kotori really didn't know about this surprise business of Honoka's, this really threw her for a loop. It was a day off, so it wasn't like they could get in the school anyway.

    "Okay, Honoka, today's the day," Honoka muttered to herself.  _ Today's the day for what? _ Kotori thought. There was a gust of wind, and what looked to be a card flew through the air and hit Honoka in the face, facedown. Judging by the pattern, it looked just like one of Nozomi's tarot cards. A sign. Honoka picked the card off of her face and laughed, before turning it over to see which one it was. The Lovers. Honoka went bright red.

    "Honoka-chan, what's wrong?" Kotori asked. She looked at the card. Was it a sign, or just mere coincidence that this one came up? The mere thought of that sent Kotori's heart racing even more, with butterflies in her stomach to boot.

    "Honoka-chan!" Nozomi shouted, running in with Eli. "Oh, you caught it, thank goodness."

    "It got really windy all of a sudden, and some of Nozomi's cards blew away while she was doing a reading for me," Eli said. "We've been following this one for about ten minutes."

    "Oh, here you go!" Honoka exclaimed, handing the card back to Nozomi.

    "Oh ho ho, you're blushing," Nozomi said. "And with 'The Lovers' in your hand, did I interrupt something?" she asked.

    "Ah, um..." Honoka began. "No, not at all," she said. I guess it wasn't a sign after all.

    "Okay then," Nozomi replied, unconvinced. "Come on Elicchi, 'The Tower' was somewhere around here," she said. And with that, Nozomi and Eli left. Honoka and Kotori watched them as they ran off, before Honoka began making her way up the stairs. The stairs she  _ hated _ walking up every day for school. (on mornings she trained, she just stayed in weapon form to let Umi carry her. It never worked and Umi made her climb the stairs in human form) Puzzled, Kotori followed Honoka up the torturously long stairwell to the main DWMA building. Honoka kept muttering  _ "today's the day" _ , over and over. And once she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped. Kotori walked up the last few stairs and stood next to Honoka.

    "Honoka-chan, you keep saying 'today's the day'," Kotori said. "What's today the day for?"

    Honoka laughed.

 

    "Kotori-chan, do you remember the first day you found out you were a weapon?" she asked. Kotori nodded. "That day, I was nothing but scared of losing you. When I found out I was a weapon the next day, I was overjoyed. Because it meant that I definitely  _ wouldn’t  _ lose you. I never wanted to lose you because I like you a lot, you're one of my best and oldest friends. I've known you longer than anyone else in μ's, longer than pretty much everyone else I've ever known. So I guess it was only natural things would end up this way."

    "What way?" Kotori asked. Did Honoka...reciprocate her feelings? Is this a confession?

    "For the longest time, I thought it was just like normal," Honoka replied. "We were best friends, I thought this was how all best friends felt. But after I found out about how Nozomi-chan and Eli-chan felt about each other, and how Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan felt about each other, I thought maybe that's how I felt about you, Kotori-chan. I just hadn't considered that possibility for the longest time. I think I realized it at the anniversary party, when we were dancing together. But I didn't think you felt the same."

    Kotori wanted to tell Honoka that yes, she did feel the same, but she didn't want to interrupt her.

    "So I just held it in, because I knew we'd always be friends regardless," Honoka said. "But I can't hold it in any longer."

    Honoka paused for a moment. Kotori was wondering whether she should say something as she looked at Honoka's trembling, nervous face and the view of the city behind her.

    "Kotori-chan, I love you!" Honoka exclaimed. Kotori gasped. Honoka had told her she loved her before, but never like this. Actually, how long had it been like this?

    "Honoka-chan..." Kotori said. She felt like she was going to cry tears of joy.

    "I can't hide my true feelings any longer!" Honoka said, throwing her arms around Kotori and kissing her. Kotori was definitely surprised, but in the best way possible. She had to force herself not to break out into a huge smile and ruin the kiss, but that failed. Honoka broke off to see Kotori grinning from ear to ear.

    "You have no idea how long I'd been waiting for this moment," Kotori said, hugging Honoka as tightly as she could. "Honoka-chan, I love you too. In fact, I was thinking of confessing sometime this summer, but I was procrastinating because I was worried  _ you _ didn't feel the same."

    "Really?" Honoka asked. She laughed, and it sounded like the kind of laugh an angel would have.

    "Really," Kotori replied. She and Honoka let go from their embrace and sat down at the top of the steps. Looking out at the view of Death City, Kotori never wanted to let go of this moment. Or Honoka. She grabbed Honoka's hand and gave it a big squeeze. 

    "I love you, Honoka-chan," Kotori said, giving Honoka a kiss on the cheek. She rested her head on Honoka's shoulder. 

 

    This was definitely the best training day she ever had.


	18. Death Fest 2!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to go all-out and give you guys a longer chapter for the finale!

    "And with a clean and perfect hit, Umi Sonoda and her partners advance to the second round!" a faculty member announced. A boy that advanced this year from Nozomi's old NOT class looked at the stun arrow still caught in his chest, and collapsed to the ground. Kotori had altered the wavelengths in her arrows so that they'd only knock out Umi's opponents, not kill them. Nozomi led on the cheer the rest of μ's gave Umi, Kotori, and Honoka.  _ Well, Umi-chan's going to be fighting A-RISE next, judging by the brackets. Perhaps Elicchi and I will end up facing her sometime tonight. _

    "How were you able to..." Nico gasped. "You fired that shot so quickly."

    "Ah, well..." Umi replied. "I guess it was a lucky shot."

    "Don't think that lucky shot'll protect you if we'll end up fighting, nya," Rin said.

    "Calm down, you three," Eli said, as Kotori and Honoka returned to human form. "Save your energy for the battles ahead."

    "And if you lose, I'll give you a big ol' squeeze," Nozomi added, making groping motions with her hands.

    "No you will not," Eli replied. "Nozomi, we talked about this."

    "Hmmph, you're no fun," Nozomi said. "So who's up next?"

    "You two," Kotori replied. "You're going to be fighting a girl named Ayumi Torii and her partner, Akiru Shinomiya."

    "Hey, those were the girls we never got to finish our match with last time," Nozomi said. "Shinomiya was a quarterstaff, right?"

    "I think so," Eli replied, as the group of nine made their way over to a different blocked-off area where Ayumi and Akiru were already standing. Sid Barrett was the faculty member watching over this match, and it didn't draw much of a crowd. Pretty much everyone was watching the stars of Class Crescent Moon, the three meisters who fought the Kishin. One of them, Black Star, already had a match going on the opposite end of the Death Fest. As always, he was the star fighter, but this year his projection to get first place wasn’t as clear. It was more varied, with not only Black Star, but Death the Kid, Maka Albarn, Tsubasa Kira, and Kilik Rung being the top five contenders. Nico was upset she wasn't on the list, and part of the reason Nozomi knew who had the most bets to begin with was that Nico kept checking. Not that the bets were officially channeled by DWMA. That was the part where Nozomi most wondered as to how Nico got her sources, given the Death Fest had only barely begun.

 

    And speaking of Death Fests that barely begun, it soon came time for Nozomi and Eli's first round. Eli faced Ayumi, both girls' partners transformed, and they stood in readied stances, waiting for Sid to announce the match's beginning.

    "LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" Sid shouted. Immediately, Ayumi ran right at Eli, clearly intent on finishing what they left off from last time. Eli was taken off guard by Ayumi's lack of a showoffy move, and used Nozomi's blade to block the hit. Eli swung Nozomi to try and knock Akiru out of Ayumi's hand, but Ayumi dodged, running over a few steps. With her quarterstaff, she must think she has a better chance defending.  _ Whatever you do, Elicchi, don't let go of me! _ Disarming a meister, forcing them to give up, forcing them out of bounds, or rendering them unable to fight was what would defeat them. And if Eli could do any of those to Ayumi, she'd move on to the next round. It appeared Eli was going for a disarming as usual, or at least, that's what she wanted it to look like to Ayumi. Eli ran up to Ayumi and hit the flat end of Nozomi's blade right on Akiru's left side, knocking her out of Ayumi's left hand. Ayumi used the empty space to ger advantage and swung Akira right into Eli's stomach.

    "Eli!" several μ's members gasped. But Eli hadn't gone down quite just yet. She thrusted Nozomi's blade upwards to try and keep Ayumi from grabbing back onto Akiru, before Ayumi started twirling Akiru around. Eli just smacked the flat end of Nozomi's blade into Akiru, sending her clattering to the ground.

    "Ayumi Torii is disarmed! Eli Ayase and Nozomi Tojo advance to the next round!" Sid announced. "Yazawa! Ford! Get up here!"

    Thankfully, nobody in μ's had to walk for the next fight, which was Nico's. She was fighting against a meister from Class Crescent Moon. Ox Ford, and his weapon partner, Harvar D. Eclair. Ox had a nearly bald head, fancier attire, and thick glasses.  _ For a boy who couldn't be older than sixteen or seventeen, he sure seemed to buy into the "old man" aesthetic, _ Nozomi thought. Ox, Harvar, Nico, and Maki all walked up to the same ground Eli, Nozomi, Akiru and Ayumi once stood on. Maki transformed into her weapon form, and Harvar to his. Harvar was some spearlike thing that crackled with lightning, which didn't faze Nico in the slightest. After all, she had a gun.

    "Let the match begin!" Sid announced, quieter than last time. He sat down in a fold-out chair and took out his water bottle.

    "Don't worry, this fight'll be short," Ox said. "Barely anyone's lasted very long against the General Lightning King."

    "General? King? Pick one before you face the heart-stoppingly adorable Nico-Nii," Nico replied. Ox looked like he was about to laugh. Nozomi wondered whether this would be a battle of the two combatants' skill or their egos. "Nico-Nico-Nii!"

    "Don't start that once the match has begun!" the rest of μ's yelled.  _ Oh, Nicocchi... _

    "I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart," Nico continued. Ox cautiously held up Harvar. "Here to bring a smile, it's Nico-Nico Yazawa! I'm Nico-Nii, and I'm going to win this battle, Nico!" Nozomi could hear Harvar muttering something to Ox. Ox smirked, and more lightning began to spark from Harvar's tip, almost like he was charging an attack.

    But Nico was fast, pulling Maki's trigger and hitting Ox right in the head, causing him to go down instantly.

    "Nico Yazawa advances to the next round," Sid said. There was a pause, before Ox began to stir. "He's okay, everyone!"

 

    "That was terrific, Nico-chan!" Honoka exclaimed, hugging Nico.

    "As if there was any doubt," Nico replied. "That 'General Lightning King' didn't stand a chance. Okay, so according to the brackets, I'll be facing the winner of that match over... there."

    Nozomi and the rest of μ's looked over to where Nico stopped at, and immediately found out the reason for her pause. There were two sword meisters, Akane Hoshi, a senior, and the former Demon Swordmaster, Crona. The two were right in the middle of their match, and despite all the loud clashing of swords, the tide did not seem to be in Akane's favor. Hanayo covered her ears from all the clashing and scraping metal. Nozomi looked away from her and back at the battle. Crona nearly disarmed Akane when they forced themself out of the constant clashes. Akane did seem to be fighting back against them, but he seemed...cautious for some reason. Chalking that up to his opponent's young age, Nozomi didn't pay too much attention to the details. One more sword clash, then another. Akane kept stepping further and further back, Crona's attacks nearly forcing him off-balance.

    "N-Nozomi?" Nico asked. "Who do you think's gonna win?"

    "Are you kidding? It's the Gorgon kid," Nozomi replied, "but I swear that tight dress should've severely impacted their mobility by now. But my intuition tells me Akane Hoshi's not gonna last much longer unless he takes advantage of his opponent's exclusive focus on offense."

    That was definitely not the response Nozomi thought Nico wanted to hear, but it was better to tell her what she legitimately felt. Akane swung the flat end of his claymore, almost hitting Crona's stomach, before forcing himself to stop. The look on his face was stunned and almost...apologetic. Crona flinched horribly, and using their lanky arms to their advantage, they swung their sword right over Akane's blade and whacked the hilt out of his hand.

    "Akane Hoshi is disarmed!" Nygus shouted, walking between the two fighters. "Crona Gorgon advances to the next round! Now, will Rin Hoshizora and Maka Albarn step up to the arena?"

    The crowd booed. Loudly. Despite the crowd's reaction, Maka and her weapon partner, Soul Eater, took a quick stop to congratulate Crona before taking their positions. Seems not everyone hates them, Nozomi thought. Rin took Hanayo's hand and gulped.

    "That's the girl who killed the Kishin," Hanayo said.

    "We have to go really easy on her, nya," Rin replied. "If I accidentally kill a hero like that..." Rin shuddered at the thought before taking her place. Both Hanayo and Soul transformed.  _ A morningstar meister versus a scythe meister, _ Nozomi thought.  _ This is going to be the battle of the impractical weapons. _

    "Let the match begin!" Nygus exclaimed. "Yazawa, can you come over here for a second?"

    "Uh, sure," Nico replied, as Rin and Maka began their match. Nozomi signaled to Eli that she was gonna eavesdrop on this one for sure. Eli sighed in a "I can try but I can't stop you" way, and Nozomi took a few steps close in.

    "Nico, I want you to be very careful when fighting Crona," Nygus said, discreetly pointing to Crona, who was watching this match intently.

    "Why should I?" Nico asked. "They're a danger and they've worked with the enemy."

    "They've recently had surgery for a traumatic injury," Nygus explained.

    "Then why in the world are you letting them fight?" Maki asked.

    "Lord Death let them in because they convinced him they had to compete," Nygus replied. "  _ 'To prove they truly were loyal to the DWMA by doing one of the most DWMA student-y things there was' _ was what he said. As the nurse, I urged Crona not to compete, but they insisted, and wouldn't back down. All I can do is personally observe each one of their matches and instruct their opponents not to aim for their stomach or lower back. If their wound reopens, the consequences could be fatal."

_ Fatal consequences? And on both sides? _ Nozomi thought.  _ What kind of horrible injury results in that? _ She ran back over to the rest of μ's, who were cheering as hard as they could for Rin.

    "Rin, do your best!" Eli shouted.

    "Fight on!" Honoka exclaimed. But even with all the cheering, it was no use. Even with Hanayo's spikes retracted, Rin was only aiming her swings to scare, maybe to disarm, but no real hits. She didn't get in too close either, nimbly dodging every swing. And she was suspiciously quiet, not making a peep or a nya. But then Nozomi caught a calculated glint in Rin's eye. She was planning every single move down to the last step.

    "HYAAAH!" Rin yelled at the top of her lungs, startling Maka. Rin swung Hanayo around the scythe rod, her spikes forming and getting caught in the chain. Rin gave Hanayo a yank, and she didn't come off. And then Rin kept pulling with all her might, Maka holding on as hard as she could. 

    "She's turned into a tug-of-war match," Maki said. The crowd seemed confused for a second, before they began cheering. Hard. Words of encouragement were being shouted at Maka and Rin as they both pulled with all their might for the next two whole minutes. Rin took a few steps back to gain more momentum as she tugged, Maka nearly losing her grip on Soul. Her gloves began to slip with her grip.  _ Was this going to be the end? Would Rin-chan defeat the hero who killed the Kishin? _ Rin took another step back, giving another big yank, right as Nygus blew a whistle.

    "Rin Hoshizora is out of bounds!" she announced. Rin gasped in shock, and turned her head to notice her foot, which was right on the wrong side of the painted line. "Maka Albarn advances to the next round!"

 

    Rin slumped onto a nearby cafe table in defeat, Hanayo and Nozomi running over to comfort her.

    "Argh, I can't believe I didn't pay attention to the bounds," Rin groaned in frustration. "One foot out of bounds, nya. I'm the only μ's member who didn't make it out of the first round because of my foot!"

    "It's okay, Rin-chan," Hanayo said, laying a hand on Rin's shoulder. "I had a lot of fun, and nobody got hurt."

    "Yeah, Rin-chan," Nozomi added. "Accidentally going out of bounds doesn't make you a bad fighter, it just means you accidentally went out of bounds. There's no 'bounds' like that in real combat, and you nearly beat the girl who killed the Kishin! Not many people here will even come close to that. Plus you've got two more shots in future Death Fests, more than any other member in μ's. Just promise to use them wisely, okay?"

    "Okay," Rin replied. She looked up to see Maka and Soul approaching at the other end of the table.

    "Hey, Rin, wasn't it?" Maka asked. Rin nodded. "That was amazing how you were able to land that locking move on your first try! I should probably watch out for you next year, shouldn't I? Who knows what you could've pulled had you not went out of bounds?"

    "Yeah, who knows, nya," Rin replied. Maka held out her hand to shake Rin's, and Rin accepted the handshake.

    "Come on, Maka, we've got another match all the way on the other side of the event next," Soul said. 

    "Well, see you around!" Maka said. And with that, she and Soul walked away. μ's spent the rest of the time between rounds making sure Rin wasn't too down, before moving on to their first match of Round Two. Umi, Honoka, and Kotori versus A-RISE.

 

    "Let the match begin!" Marie Mjolnir shouted. And with that, Umi drew her bow, but Tsubasa ran too fast, dodging the arrow.  _ Shoot, Umi-chan's a goner! _ Nozomi thought.  _ No, don't be pessimistic. _

    "Tsubaaaasaaaaa!" Umi exclaimed, reloading her arrows. Tsubasa kept dodging shot after shot, using the fact that Umi needed time to draw her bow to her advantage. And not wanting to tire herself out too much, Tsubasa ran in to try and make the finishing move early on. Umi hit her on the head with Honoka, and grabbed one of Kotori's arrows.

    "Oh, a melee setup!" Nozomi and Eli both exclaimed.  _ Technically, Umi-chan was still using both her weapons, so there's no way Marie-sensei can say this is against the rules,  _ Nozomi-thought. Tsubasa kicked the arrow out of Umi's hand and hit her other hand with Erena's handle. But Umi did not drop Honoka. She hit Tsubasa's knuckles with the bow, but Tsubasa would not drop her knife. Tsubasa and Umi kept hitting each others' hands, trying to get the other to drop her weapons. Both their knuckles began to bruise, and Umi especially grew tired of this. It was clear neither wanted to give up easily, so Umi picked up one of Kotori's non-lethal arrows and stabbed Tsubasa in the shoulder. The crowd gasped, and one of Tsubasa's knives clattered to the ground as the arrow vanished, leaving no mark on Tsubasa, even to her clothes. Umi grabbed another arrow, but Tsubasa was quick, running around behind Umi. Umi turned right around and aimed with Honoka first, missing Tsubasa's empty hand, which grabbed the strap for Kotori's quiver. Tsubasa tried to pull Kotori off of Umi, but Umi struck Tsubasa's wrist, hard enough for her to drop the other knife.

    "Tsubasa Kira is disarmed, and Umi Sonoda advances to the next round!" Marie announced.

    "It appears you have bested me. It's a shame I lost so early, but at least it was to a worthy opponent," Tsubasa said, grabbing her wrist and wincing.

    "Did I hit too hard?" Umi asked, as Anju and Erena returned to human form and Tsubasa's side.

    "A little, but it's nothing I won't swiftly recover from," Tsubasa replied. "Come on, girls, let's go watch the other matches."

 

    "Umi-chan, that was amazing, nya!" Rin said. "A melee setup with your bow and arrow, I'd expect no less from you."

    "Yeah, but now my back hurts," Honoka groaned. "Umi-chaaaaan, please go easier on me."

    "That hurt you?" Umi gasped. "Honoka, I had no idea. I came up with that on the fly."

    "You'll have to come up with a better strategy in time for you to face the winners of this match," Hanayo said. "Which is... Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan versus some girls named Ranpha and Jennifer."

 

    Nozomi and Eli stood across from Ranpha and Jennifer, Nozomi and Jennifer transforming into their weapon forms.  _ Jennifer's a bat! _ Nozomi thought.  _ That's pretty good, since as a sword, I'm much more intimidating. And Ranpha's smaller than Elicchi, too. Heh, we probably look like we mean way more business compared to them. _ The faculty member announced the match to begin, and Ranpha immediately ran towards Eli, swinging Jennifer toward her wrists. Eli blocked the attack with the flat end of Nozomi's blade. Nozomi winced from within her soul space.  _ Dang, that's one heck of a bat. _

    "Aiming for my wrists to disarm?" Eli asked, swinging Nozomi at Ranpha to scare her towards the boundary line. "You must've seen Umi's match, too."

    "Tsubasa Kira was in the top five, and defeated by just a slap on the wrist," Ranpha said. "Imagine how easy it'd be to disarm someone using that move with a bat. Why, Jennifer and I could make it right to the top!"

    Eli smirked. Ranpha had just leaked her entire strategy to her. Now she knew just what to look out for. Eli ran at Ranpha, swinging Nozomi to try and get her to back away just that one foot too far. But Ranpha noticed her strategy, and swung Jennifer right at Eli's knees. Eli jumped to dodge, and ran right to the edge of the boundary line.

    "I hope she charges again," Eli said. "I could've probably had my kneecaps broken with that move of hers."

    "Yeah," Nozomi replied, as Ranpha ran at the two, taking the risky gamble. And just in the nick of time, Eli moved a step to the side, and just as she thought, Ranpha went over the line. The faculty member overseeing the match blew his whistle, and announced that Ranpha had gone out of bounds, and that Eli would be making it to the next round.

     "They should really give us a harder opponent next round," Nozomi said.

     "They will, remember?" Eli replied. "It'll be Umi."

_  I was right, _ Nozomi thought.  _ Elicchi and I will be facing her tonight. _ Nozomi and Eli walked back to the rest of μ's. It was a short walk over to get back to Nygus's block where Nico's fight against the former Demon Swordmaster would be. And Nico definitely wasn't ready for it. Honoka tried to reassure her, saying that she had met Crona before, and they were nowhere near as scary as Nico first thought. Just a nervous, jumpy kid. This calmed Nico's nerves enough, right on time for her to step up to the fight. But Nozomi could tell from her aura that Nico still had her doubts. And she could tell from Maki's aura that Maki knew. And wasn't any different.

 

    Nico held Maki in her hand, already transformed. She stood in front of an opponent four years younger than her and at least four inches taller. Nico sized them up with a glance, and smirked.  _ Nicocchi's nervous, but she must think she's going to win. After all, she said right away when we first heard about Crona that she'd win against them by default, thanks to Maki-chan being a gun, _ Nozomi thought, right as Ragnarok burst from Crona's back to size up their opponent.  _ Ew, that thing looks disgusting,  _ Nozomi thought. Despite Ragnarok being about the size of a toddler, Crona didn't even flinch. Nygus blew her whistle to signify the start of the match.

    "Who's this puny little nobody?" Ragnarok asked. Nico gasped.  _ Oh no, that was the worst possible thing you could've said right now... _ Nozomi thought, as Ragnarok transformed into a skinny sword with a functional mouth on the hilt. He let out a battle cry, spit flying everywhere.

    "A nobody?" Nico asked. "Looks like you're gonna need an introduction to DWMA's number one meister. Nico-Nico-Nii!"  _ Nicocchi, DON'T. NOT NOW. _ "I'll Nico-Nico-Nii your heart!"

    Crona looked thoroughly confused, and so did nearly everyone in the crowd. Except for the rest of μ's, who were hanging their heads in shame.

    "Here to bring a smile, it's Nico-Nico Ya-" Nico continued with while Crona ran at her to attack while her guard was down. Nico had to use the side of Maki's barrel to block the first swing.

    "Aren't we here to fight?" Crona asked. "I can't deal with an opponent that isn't going to take things seriously," they said. Nozomi was unsure whether that was a taunt since Crona's tone almost sounded nervous.

    "Don't interrupt me before I'm done with the Nico-Nico-Nii!" Nico snapped, firing a few rounds as she ran back to get some distance. Crona let out a harsh battle cry as they ran back at Nico, refusing to let her have that distance. Nico fired more rounds. Nozomi could swear she got a few hits in, but Crona didn't even seem to waver. It was like they couldn't even feel it. Nico just kept dodging and trying to fire, aiming high so she wouldn't hit Crona's stomach. Nico kept moving herself closer and closer to the center of her block to avoid the bounds. Nozomi could tell from where she stood that Nico was breaking one heck of a sweat. Eventually, she stopped firing and turned Maki the other way to use her as a melee weapon.

    "Now you're gonna get it!" Nico shouted, swinging Maki right into Crona's face. Black blood began to ooze out from the side of their lip. "What the-?" Nico asked. 

    "Oh, that?" Crona asked, wiping the blood away like it was nothing. "My blood is black."

    "You should probably see a doctor about that," Nico replied, swinging Maki again towards their arm, but they blocked the hit with their other arm, before knocking Nico back to disorient her and going up behind her to hold Ragnarok at her throat.  _ Oh my gosh, are they gonna kill Nicocchi? _ Nozomi thought.

    "Are you going to give up?" Crona asked. With the crowd jeering, Nico turned Maki around in her hand, slipping her finger right back into the trigger. Nico slowly and carefully began to raise Maki up. But Crona noticed out of the corner of their eye, and with a quick strike of their sword, knocked Maki right out of Nico's hand and sent her clattering to the ground.

    "Nico Yazawa is disarmed!" Nygus shouted. The crowd began to boo. "Crona Gorgon advances to the next round!" The crowd's booing became louder as Maka Albarn emerged from the crowd once again to be the sole voice congratulating Crona on their victory. Nico and Maki returned to the rest of μ's, but Nico didn't look that angry, in fact, the booing seemed to only lift her spirits.

    "The crowd loves me so much they boo my opponent when I lose," Nico said. "I truly am the number one meister in everyone's hearts, and that's enough for me," she added. Nozomi sighed, deciding she'd let Nico have this one.

    "I almost feel a bit bad though," Kotori said. "That poor kid got booed the last time they won a match, too. At least they have a friend to cheer them up."

    "Kotori-chan..." Honoka began, watching how Maka was giving Crona more than just friendly reassurance, but a kiss on the cheek. "...they might be a bit more than just friends if you ask me."

 

    The remainder of the second round was spent preparing for the single match any μ's member would have in the third. And unlike the others, for this one it would be certain that only one team would walk out of the fray advancing. Nozomi was definitely nervous for herself and for Eli, nervous for the first time this evening. Fighting Ayumi and Akiru, and fighting Ranpha and Jennifer... both matches were a piece of cake for Eli. But this one wouldn't be. Sure Nozomi and Eli might have had an advantage over Umi, Honoka, and Kotori by knowing and coaching their fighting style, but Umi had the exact same advantage over them. 

    Eli and Nozomi stood facing the trio when it came time for their match, a readied expression on Eli's face. The Death Scythe Spirit Albarn was overseeing their match, and last Death Fest's champion, Black Star, was in the crowd with his weapon partner, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa.  _ Why's he watching us? _ Nozomi thought. Then she remembered the brackets up to this point. The winner of this match would be facing him. Facing the champion.

    "Why couldn't I have had my daughter's match?" Spirit grumbled, his bullhorn unintentionally picking it up. "Okay, you girls know the rules by now, so I'm not gonna bother. Let the match begin."

    Umi smirked, as Honoka and Kotori transformed. Nozomi transformed too, and before Umi could even draw Honoka's string, Eli ran to try and disarm her.

    "What the-" Umi gasped, dodging the attempt.

    "You're not gonna have time to even make a shot!" Eli exclaimed, knocking Honoka out of Umi's hand.  _ This... this ended sooner than I anticipated, _ Nozomi thought, before noticing Kotori was still snug around Umi's torso. Since Kotori was a Demon Weapon too, Umi wasn't technically disarmed. Umi took two arrows from Kotori's quiver and tossed them at Eli like they were throwing knives. Eli ducked and dodged them both, as Umi rolled away from her next strike to pick up Honoka. Umi got out another arrow, but before she could fire, Eli knocked Honoka out of her hand again.

    "I'm sorry, Umi," Eli said. "You would have been a formidable opponent had this been anything but a street fight." Eli reached out to grab Kotori's strap to yank her off and disarm Umi, but Umi had a different idea.

    "It is I who must apologize to you!" Umi exclaimed, pushing herself up to knock Eli down from the ankles. Eli fell down to the street and Umi picked up Honoka, using the time Eli was disoriented to draw her bow.

    "Elicchi, get it together!" Nozomi said. "You're still holding on to me, this fight isn't over!"

    "No it isn't!" Eli reaffirmed, knocking the arrow right out of Umi's fingertips and getting back up to her feet. There was a small scrape on the side of Eli's face from the fall, but she didn't pay too much mind to it. Eli ran around behind Umi, with the aim of slipping Nozomi's blade underneath Kotori and removing her that way. But Umi noticed what Eli was doing and turned around to try and use Honoka as a melee weapon. A chunk of Umi's hair feel to the ground, leaving an uneven spot in her ponytail.  _ Whoops, _ Nozomi thought.  _ Please don't notice. _

    "Eli... your face," Umi said. Umi had a look of utter shock, because it was her fault. She had done this to her friend. Eli hesitated. She couldn't take advantage of her friend's momentary pause in that state. 

    "It's fine, I'll just put a band-aid on it," Eli replied. Umi and Eli both readied themselves for the next strike. The sword raised, and the bow released. A deep blue arrow hit through Eli's shoulder. But not the one that matched the hand she held Nozomi with. Eli tried to move her arm, but it was like it had fallen asleep. _ Elicchi, you can still use me one-handed, come on! _ Nozomi thought, as Eli didn't give up, swinging Nozomi at Honoka one final time, causing her to clatter back onto the floor.

    "Eli-chan, stop that!" Honoka huffed.  _ It's fine, she's in weapon form, and Elicchi's not hitting her hard enough to hurt her. _

    "Umi-chan, get the arrows!" Kotori added. Umi nodded, grabbing two more arrows, but after seeing the arrow in Eli's shoulder again, she just couldn't stab her. Eli couldn't move her arm to knock Umi down, and she was hesitant to use Nozomi, even though Nozomi did try as hard as she could to keep her blade as dull as possible.  _ Elicchi... can't do it. This is why fellow μ's members are our most difficult opponents. _

    "I can see you're hesitating," Umi said. "Even though this is just an exhibition match, you can't bear to hurt a close friend."

    "You're scared too, I can see it in your eyes," Eli replied. Umi looked taken aback. "Otherwise you would have already ended this."

    Umi subtly motioned for Eli to lean in closer to her.

    "We'll go together on three," she said, at a much lower volume so that Eli and Nozomi could hear her, but not the onlookers. "That way, neither of us'll get anxious over the final strike."

    Eli nodded. She raised Nozomi as high as she could, and Umi held up the arrows in her hands. They both let out their best combat yells. Eli swung Nozomi to try and get Kotori off of Umi without hurting her, and Umi thrust with the arrows at stabbing force. 

    Umi was the one who managed the hit.

    "μ's will be in good hands, Umi," Eli said, before falling to her knees and dropping Nozomi. The arrows vanished from her shoulder and chest.

    "Umi Sonoda advances to the next round!" Spirit announced through his megaphone. Nozomi, Honoka, and Kotori all returned to human form and went back to their meisters' sides.

    "Elicchi, are you hurt?" Nozomi asked.

    "No," Eli replied. "They stung at first, but now I just feel a numbness in my chest and shoulder."

    "It'll go away in a few minutes, I didn't use a wavelength strong enough to even knock you out," Kotori said.

    "Elicchi, should I massage it out?" Nozomi asked.

    "Thanks, but I'll be fine, Nozomi," Eli replied.  _ Our last chance at the Death Fest, and we were defeated, _ Nozomi thought.  _ Umi-chan is now the only hope for anyone in μ's to win it all, and her next match is against the champion, Black Star. _ Umi and Nozomi helped Eli back up to her feet, and the five of them returned to the rest of μ's. Maki and Hanayo looked apprehensive, Nico and Rin excited.

    "You'll kick his tail, Umi-chan!" Rin exclaimed.

    "Do be careful," Hanayo added.

    "I will, don't worry," Umi replied, noticing Hanayo and especially Maki's worried faces.

    "I hope your match goes well, Umi," Eli said, putting a hand on Umi's shoulder.

 

    It felt like Eli and Nozomi barely even had time to go over their loss before the time came to support Umi. If she was able to beat Black Star, she'd be able to make it to the top eight and that much closer to victory. The only hope Nozomi and Eli would see for a μ's victory. No longer would there be any semblance of rivalry tonight for μ's. No, they all came together like they always did. In fact, it seemed that there had been no rivalry at all among μ's tonight.

    "Let the match begin!" Sid exclaimed. Honoka, Kotori, and Tsubaki transformed. Tsubaki had become a smoke bomb, which Black Star threw to the ground. A smokescreen came over the street as Umi drew her bow.

    "No way, Black Star got this far with a smoke bomb?" Hanayo asked.

    "I pulled an all-nighter doing research last night, Tsubaki is a multi-form weapon," Nico replied. "A smoke bomb is only one of her tricks."

    The smoke began to dissipate, and Black Star was standing right at the edge of the bound line, on the opposite end from where Umi's arrow hit.

    "Huh?" Umi asked. Tsubaki was now in chain scythe form.

    "Speed Star!" Black Star yelled, running too fast for Umi to shoot at in every direction. Umi held Honoka melee-style, and held her in preparation to strike. Until Black Star stopped running, stopping right at the edge of the bounds again. Tsubaki's chain had somehow extended everywhere, and Black Star still had both ends in his hands. Nozomi got a really bad feeling. 

    "Trap Star!" Black Star shouted. The chains all zipped back to the center, which was right where Umi stood. Umi noticed this, and jumped above the chains. The rest of μ's gasped, and began to cheer. Did that mean Black Star was disarmed? But that was not the case. He still had one end of Tsubaki in his hands.

    "Tsubaki, Shuriken Mode," he said. Tsubaki transformed into an oversized shuriken, which Black Star threw right at Umi. She ducked under it, confident that Black Star would have disarmed himself this time. Until a golden glow began to come behind her, the same one that came from Tsubaki changing modes. She transformed into a ninja sword, going right into Black Star's hands. Trying to show no fear, Umi took out another arrow and drew her bow. Black Star smirked.

    "Speed Star!" he yelled again, dashing towards Umi and dodging the arrow. Three strikes with the flat end of Tsubaki's blade and she was out. Umi was down. It was over. Sid announced Black Star's victory, and Umi had lost. And just like that, μ's lost.

    Honoka and Kotori returned to human form and started to check if Umi was okay. Tears welled up in Hanayo's eyes, and Rin tried to comfort her with a hug. Nico, Maki, Nozomi and Eli ran up to Umi, Honoka, and Kotori. Umi began to stir, touching her hand to her forehead.

    "I lost, didn't I?" she asked. The others said nothing, just saying it with saddened looks. "Well, I guess that's the champion for you," Umi said, trying to smile through this. But it didn't work. She just went right back to feeling devastated. "Damn it, if only Eli had made the final strike..."

    "You'd think by Round Four the great me would have a challenge," Black Star said. Nico's eyelid began to twitch. She curled up her fists and  _ ran _ right up to Black Star.

    "Shut up and wipe that smug look off your face!" she shouted, raising her fist and throwing a punch. Black Star caught it before it could reach his face, and his hand clamped down around Nico's.

    "Watch it, pipsqueak," he said, letting go of her hand and turning to walk away.

    "Hey, you're no taller than me!" Nico replied. "Pretty much," she added, as he walked over to his friends. "I'm not done with you ye-Maki-chan, let go!"

    "Nico-chan, this is for your own good," Maki said, keeping a strong hold on Nico so she wouldn't do anything rash. Since there was nothing she felt she could do anymore, Nozomi felt powerless. She looked around at the rest of μ's. Rin was hugging Hanayo, Maki was restraining Nico, Kotori and Eli were helping Umi back to her feet, and Honoka... Honoka stood in the middle of the street with the exact same expression as Nozomi. Except she felt she had to say something about it.

    "It's... it's just a little exhibition match," Honoka said, wiping off her eyes. "We can push forward, we're μ's. We'll fight just as hard next year. We'll connect our hearts, and our souls, and we'll show that Black Star kid, the Demon Swordmaster, the girl who killed the Kishin, everyone. We'll show them what exactly μ's is made of."

    "Honoka-chan, I appreciate your sentiment, but..." Nozomi said, "Nicocchi, Elicchi and I won't be there for next year. We're seniors, we'll have graduated by then."

    "Then the six of us that remain will fight even harder for your legacy!" Honoka replied. "And in the meantime, we'll train as hard as we can. We can always be stronger. And faster. Fast enough to defeat a speed fighter with a bow at close range! Strong enough and fast enough to defeat a hundred, no, a thousand Kishin eggs!"

    "Honoka, where is that last one coming from?" Umi asked.

    "We're not going to give up," Honoka continued with, ignoring Umi. "We're μ's, we absolutely  _ can’t  _ give up. Do you hear us, Death Fest? Next year, we're going to take you on and win it all!"

    "Yeah!" the rest of μ's, save for the seniors, shouted. Nozomi, Nico, and Eli looked at their underclassmen with admiration. _ μ's is definitely, absolutely gonna be in good hands from this point on, _ Nozomi thought.

 

    They didn't end up defeating a thousand Kishin eggs by the time graduation day came, but the thirty that they all  _ did _ defeat between them by then was more than enough. Nozomi, Eli, and Nico sat at the front steps, overlooking the city for one last time before they returned to their dorms for their last night in Death City.

    "We did it," Eli said, her diploma in hand.

    "It feels so weird looking at this city now that we're graduates," Nozomi replied. "Pretty soon I'll be headed back to Tokyo to hopefully see my family again this summer. It's been a while."

    "Got any regrets about graduating?" Nico asked, sighing like yes, she definitely did have some. "Surprisingly, I don't. Sure, I didn't end up forging Maki-chan into a Death Scythe or becoming number one at the Death Fest, but while I was a student here I made eight wonderful friends that I wouldn't want to trade for the world."

    "Yeah," Nozomi replied. "My only regret about graduating is that I'll miss μ's."

    "That was probably the best part about being a student here," Eli added.

    "Do you think it was fate that brought μ's together?" Nozomi asked. "I think it was. I bet that in any universe we'd all find a way to come together as nine."

    "There you guys are, we've been looking all over for you," Maki said, as she, Rin, Hanayo, Kotori, Honoka, and Umi approached the trio of graduates.  _ And speaking of our friends, _ Nozomi thought.

    "We're throwing a party in the dorms in your honor!" Honoka added.

    "That sounds wonderful," Nozomi beamed.

    "Then let's go, nya!" Rin exclaimed, leading the way for everyone down DWMA's long stairwell. _ I hope that after everyone else graduates, fate can bring us together again. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read Melody Of The Soul! I can't believe what started as a little self-indulgent crossover idea turned into a full-length fic, and that so many people have read it, left kudos, commented, and everything! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming Aqours oneshot set in this universe!


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